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Law and Order in New Zealand - the facts
New Zealand's crime rate is always one of serious debate and concern to all the community but some interesting facts released recently are worth pondering.
- Despite general perception, crime is not out of control. The Crime rate is 13.8% lower than it was at its peak in 1996
- Official police statistics show that the resolution rate for all recorded crime is now 43.5% - the best since 1987
- Thanks to more police and better legislation, like the DNA laws, crime resolution rates are now the best they have ever been since 1987.
- We now have a record number of sworn in police. At around 7,450, there are now at least 450 more police now than there were in 1999.
- We now have a record police budget of $1.06 billion. Labour is putting over $200 million more into police than the previous National government did in 1999
- The new sentencing and parole laws mean much tougher sentences for the worst offenders and dangerous criminals are they serving more of their sentences behind bars
- The Bail Act 2000 is seeing fewer people granted bail, with around 1,000 serious and repeat offenders denied bail than in 2000.
- The aim of tackling the causes of crime through early intervention, strengthening families through education and refined economic policies are being proven in agencies such as the Safer Community Councils, two of which operate in Wairarapa
- It costs an average of $55,000 per inmate per year to keep someone in prison
- New Zealand has the second highest imprisonment in the Western world, jailing 155 people for every 100,000 population. The USA is the highest at 701. Third is England and Wales at 141, Australia 115 and Canada 116
- Harsher penal policies in the USA have not made America a safer place to live as rates of homicide and violent crime continue to be on the rise.
The above facts show it is easy to recycle the old 'get tough' slogan but it is not always the best single method. Labour has taken action in recent years and the good results stand in stark contrast to the record of the 1990s.
Flood Relief
Local Government Minister Chris Carter has approved more than $11 million to be paid to local authorities in flood affected areas of the central North Island, including Wairarapa.
The funds will be paid as part of a reimbursement scheme to 20 councils to enable them to grant rates remissions to income-generating properties affected by the February 2004 storms.
This initiative is part of government's assistance for storm affected areas that totals up to $130m. Rates remissions means that business owners struggling to rebuild after the horrendous events of February will have one less bill to worry about. The rates remission payments will be made in three instalments. The first payment has been made to councils and the second is expected this month. Earlier, councils were asked to identify, as best they could, those commercial properties that were affected by the storms, and to provide the total rates that were assessed on those properties for the 2003/04 financial year. Those assessment figures were used to divide up the $11.25 million between the affected councils proportionally. For example, if a council's assessment figure represented 10 percent of the total assessment figures for all affected councils, then that council would be allocated 10 percent of the $11.25 million. The Government is also helping flood affected communities with state highway and local road repair, and assistance for agriculture and forestry. In Wairarapa, Masterton District Council is to get $175,710, South Wairarapa $93,560 and Tararua $421,019. Carterton was fortunate to have escaped relatively unscathed. It will be up to the councils to identify the individual properties that will receive a remission and to contact owners.
Civil Union Bill
An important correction to a statement in last week's column. The vote on the Relationships Statutory References Bill, also known as the Omnibus Bill, and the Civil Union Bill are a conscience vote, not a party vote for Labour, as stated previously.
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