Safer communities through prevention and rehabilitation
The Green Party will reform justice and community safety to focus on prevention and healing.
Our communities are safer when everyone has access to key services, enough to make ends meet and provide for their families – we need a justice system that treats everyone with humanity, dignity, and respect.
For decades, governments have created a justice system that ignores drivers of crime and instead puts people in prisons with inadequate rehabilitation support. These approaches have failed to address the underlying drivers of crime and, in many cases, pushed people further into crisis.
Aotearoa needs a justice system that treats everyone with humanity, dignity, and respect. The Green Party helped to remove the American-style three strikes law. We have also put in place the first ever plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa, Te Aorerekura.
The time is now to make sure communities and whānau have what they need to thrive, including mental healthcare, addiction support, affordable homes, and liveable income support. We will create meaningful alternatives to putting people in prison, and support Māori leadership on justice transformation.
The Greens will address poverty and inequality so we can make everyone safer, while supporting those who offend to address the root causes of their offending, to rebuild, and to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
Our Plan
- Resource evidence-based rehabilitation for anyone convicted of an offence, and ensure tikanga-based and restorative justice solutions (such as Te Pae
Oranga) are available to everyone who wishes to access these. - Expand specialist youth courts like the Rangatahi and Pasifika Courts throughout Aotearoa. Ensure that young people involved in the criminal
justice system have the support they need to address the causes of their offending, including mental health and trauma support, and drug and
alcohol rehabilitation. - Require regular de-escalation training for police, oppose further arming of police and the use of tactics that increase the risk of harm, and increase
resourcing for Māori and Pasifika wardens. - Minimise the use of remand in youth detention facilities, and ban the detention of young people with adults in all circumstances.
- Reform bail and sentencing laws to allow for more non-custodial, community outcomes.
- Improve community reintegration support for people leaving prisons, including housing.
- Extend legal aid, better resource community law centres, and make applications for protection and parenting orders free.
- Implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch, by updating Human Rights Act protections against incitement to cover religion, gender, disability and Rainbow communities as well as race.