Youth heartened by consensus on crime and punishment
Youth heartened by emerging consensus on crime and
punishment, but need political action
Over 100 members
of JustSpeak came away greatly encouraged by the willingness
of politicians from across the political spectrum to engage
with youth on fresh ways of thinking about crime and
punishment at JustSpeak’s monthly forum on the evening of
Wednesday 9 May. The political forum brought together
Minister Chester Borrows (National), Charles Chauvel
(Labour), Metiria Turei (Greens), Hone Harawira (Mana) and
Asenati Lole-Taylor (NZ First) to debate the topic of The
Political Response to Criminal Justice in Aotearoa: Do
politicians have the courage to abandon the law and order
auction?
The audience was heartened by the efforts of
politicians to reach across the divide and find common
ground on addressing New Zealand’s pressing criminal
justice issues. Chester Borrows called the present situation
a “perfect storm” for change, and indicated a common
“will not to get back into the auction” of punitive
populism when creating justice policy. Charles Chauvel
likewise described an “historic opportunity” to make a
change in the direction of New Zealand’s justice system.
Metiria Turei spoke of changing the focus from a “legal
system” to a “justice system” – a sentiment echoed
by Hone Harawira, who suggested that for many New
Zealanders, especially Māori, the current feeling it that
“the law has nothing to do with justice”. Hone
challenged the audience to consider restructuring our
concepts of crime and justice to provide for greater equity
in society’s treatment of all its members. A common theme
from all speakers was the need to shift focus away from
vindictive penal sanctions towards treatments that addresses
the underlying causes and drivers of crime, and take
account, as Chester Borrows suggested, of the fact that
offenders may be victims too.
JustSpeak applauds the
receptiveness of the politicians to engage with young people
on these issues. As Hone Harawira said, JustSpeak believes
that young people “are bold enough to try” to change
attitudes and generate change. The young people present on
Wednesday evening came away focussed on rising to the
challenge laid down by Chester Borrows to ensure that
“your idealism lasts beyond the ink drying on your
degree”. Feedback collected from audience members
following the event reflected that sense of optimism.
“Amazing to have such an open discussion about justice
with our leaders”, one wrote. “What an amazing
evening”, said another, “I really enjoyed the diverse
panel”. “Stepping away from the auction isn’t the
answer, but it’s the beginning”, another commented.
“There is hope yet?”.
But the audience also
emphasised the vital need to translate ideas into political
action. Audience members came away hopeful that politicians
can “walk the talk” and “translate ideas into detail
and implementation”. The purpose of the evening, one
member identified, was to “challenge us to find real
solutions – to take action beyond the talkfest”.
JustSpeak was therefore pleased to hear some concrete goals
identified by speakers: Charles Chauvel gave a commitment to
reintroduce the Sentencing Council, cancel the contract to
build a new prison at Wiri, and use that money to fund other
projects to address wider drivers of crime.
Metiria Turei
spoke of the important need to address housing and providing
a stable economic foundation for all New Zealanders to deter
crime, while Hone Harawira emphasised the need to engage
Māori in the justice system and to explore alternative,
marae-based approaches outside the Anglo-Saxon justice
system. Chester Borrows suggested that a change as simple as
reconfiguring our courtrooms to include defendants more
fully in proceedings could be effective – we need, he
said, to “look forward to new ways of people going to
court”. All speakers spoke in favour of emerging
therapeutic and restorative approaches to justice, including
the pilot drug courts, Rangatahi courts and homeless
persons’ courts.
Just Speak is committed to
identifying and promoting ways that real change can be
brought to criminal justice policy and practice in New
Zealand, through engagement with politicians, government
departments, the judiciary, community groups, offenders and
victims, and the wider public. As one guest emphasized,
“community needs to be part of the process”. JustSpeak
hopes that the ideas shared by both politicians and audience
members at the political forum, and the spirit of working
collaboratively towards a better approach to crime and
justice in Aotearoa, will be retained long after the event
ended.
