Why Wait?
Thursday 15th Mar 2001 Stephen Franks Media Release -- Justice
ACT Justice Spokesman Stephen Franks today questioned why the Labour Government was going to delay bringing in the
Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill for a year.
“If the key features of the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill are set-out as in Minister Goff’s media statement, they
should be supported by everyone concerned about our slip to the bottom in control of crime.
“Perhaps it is the fine print that will be controversial, and need the delay. Otherwise, there is no good reason to
hold-up implementation for more than a year. I am sure all parties would help to push it through – if it is confined to
the key features he has described – with at least as much speed as the Government rammed through the ACC reversal.
“Perhaps the real reason for the delay is so that the Bill’s passage will be fresher in the memories of voters at the
election, and there won’t be time for its inadequacies to have emerged," Stephen Franks said.
For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at
act@parliament.govt.nz.