The government will introduce legislation this week pushing ahead with its promise to deliver tougher consequences for crime.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today announced changes to the Sentencing Act after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The reforms included a limit on how much and how frequently judges can discount sentences.
Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith said the changes meant criminals would "face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised".
There had been a "concerning trend" in recent years where courts had imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences, he said.
"Public confidence in the ability of our sentencing system to deter and denounce offending has diminished.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"These changes will help ensure there are 20,000 fewer victims of violent crime by 2029, alongside reducing serious repeat youth offending by 15 per cent."
The reforms to sentencing included:
- Capping the sentence discounts judges can apply at 40 percent when considering mitigating factors, unless it would result in manifestly unjust sentencing outcomes.
- Preventing repeat discounts for youth and remorse
- Responding to serious retail crime by introducing a new aggravating factor to address offences against sole-charge workers and those whose home and business are interconnected
- Encouraging the use of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody or on parole
- Implementing a sliding scale for early guilty pleas with a maximum sentence discount of 25 percent, reducing to a maximum of 5 percent for a guilty plea entered during the trial
- Amending the principles of sentencing to include requirement to take into account any information provided to the court about victims' interests, as committed to in both coalition agreements.
The government had introduced two more aggravating factors for sentencing:
- Adults who exploit children and young people by aiding or abetting them to offend;
- Offenders who glorify their criminal activities by livestreaming or posting them online.
"These changes send a clear message that social media cannot be a tool to glorify or celebrate the actions of callous individuals, and nor should adults exploit children and young people in the commission of crimes," Goldsmith said.
"Communities and hardworking Kiwis should not be made to live and work in fear of these offenders who clearly have a flagrant disregard for the law, corrections officers and the general public."
At the post-Cabinet media briefing, Luxon said the government was most concerned about violent crime, and had set the target of 20,000 fewer people being the victim of an assault, robbery or sexual assault by 2029.
The New Zealand crime and victims' survey had found almost 30,000 more people had experienced violent crime between July 2022 and June 2024.
This was "further proof that the previous soft-on-crime approach has emboldened offenders and created a crime wave that will take a much tougher approach to stop", Luxon said.
"Victims and the public lose faith in the justice system when criminals receive such hefty discounts to their sentences that they don't reflect the harm caused."
The sentencing reforms were a culmination of everything the government had been doing on justice and crime, he said.
They would also be focusing on youth crime, and the use of IT for better analytics.
In response to a question about whether the reforms would lead to an increase in prisoner numbers, Goldsmith said they had estimated it would mean another 1400-1700 prisoners each year.
They hoped to lower the prison population, but only after a reduction in serious crime, he said.
Luxon added this was "consistent with rights and responsibilities... with how we want things to be in New Zealand".
"Having people out in the community causing harm, pain and suffering to their fellow New Zealanders is utterly unacceptable."
ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Changes put retailers' rights 'at the centre of sentencing' - ACT
ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar said the sentencing reforms delivered on the party's "coalition commitment to introduce new aggravating factors at sentencing to address offences against sole charge workers and those whose home and business are interconnected".
"Finally, retailers and other sole charge workers will have their rights put at the centre of sentencing."
Shop workers and business owners had told Parmar of "costly" security measures they had put in place, she said.
"It is heartbreaking because many people come to New Zealand and take these jobs with the understanding that this is a safe country.
"People working alone feel especially vulnerable, as do those who work in a business attached to the family home, because they can't flee without putting loved ones at risk. Now, these workers' vulnerability will be recognised in law."
The changes put greater weight on victims' circumstances, she said.
Recap the whole press conference with our blog below:
