1 April 2010

An equal society is a safe society

Crime statistics show that John Key’s Government’s irrational, punitive and populist approach to the justice system is making things worse, said the Green Party today.

Statistics leaked to TV One yesterday showed overall crime was up 3.5 percent and there have been large increases in murder and violent crime.

“The Government needs to get serious about addressing crime and look at real solutions rather than implementing tough rhetoric that does not work,” said Green Party Co-Leader Metiria Turei.

Research shows that the more unequal a society, the more crime it has. Last year's United Nations Human Development Report shows that New Zealand is the sixth most unequal country among most developed countries.

“To address crime we need to address inequality. John Key’s Governments seems hell bent on making inequality worse.

“The Government needs to take concrete steps to address inequality immediately. Raising the minimum wage and stopping beneficiary bashing are two key things they could do.

“Changes to the tax system need to promote a fair and equal society. The Government’s plan to increase GST and cut the top tax bracket will create even more inequality in New Zealand.

“Community safety needs to come first. The Government needs to implement polices that are effective in reducing crime rather than just chucking more people in jail which has been shown to increase crime.

“The Government needs to stop playing populist politics with crime and keep the community safe by addressing its causes,” said Mrs Turei.

For more information:

Research on the impact of inequality available at - http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/

Human Development Report 2009, United Nations –

http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2009/

Inequality in Aotearoa: why inequality is bad for us all, Metiria Turei, Frogblog.

http://blog.greens.org.nz/2010/03/30/inequality-in-aotearoa-why-inequality-is-bad-for-us-all/

ENDS

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