Courts and Corrections

The National-led Government’s poor political process jeopardised a critical law change on sex crimes, the Green Party said today.

The case of an Auckland man sacked from his job after his employer discovered he’d been sentenced to corrective training 21 years ago shows why the Clean Slate law needs an urgent review, Green Party Law and Order Spokesperson Metiria Turei said today.

The Green Party has welcomed the Government’s bill to add to the Sentencing Act guidance on legal consequences for offending against children.

National’s plans to increase the prison muster will compound existing mental health issues in prisons – highlighted in Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem’s annual report – and create a hazardous environment for prisoners, corrections staff and the wider community, says the Green Party.