Tougher Sentences Ahead As Three Strikes Returns
Repeat violent and sexual offenders are officially on notice Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says.
'Tougher penalties are now in place as the Three Strikes law comes into force today and the message is clear. If you commit serious violent or sexual offences, expect to face increasingly severe consequences. New Zealanders have had enough – they want safer streets, safer homes, and a justice system that puts victims first,' Mrs McKee says.
The Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Act 2024 restores the regime scrapped under the previous government and is a central pillar in the Coalition's drive to restore law and order and protect the public.
Under the Act:
Offenders convicted of any of 42 serious violent or sexual offences – including new crimes like strangulation and suffocation – will face escalating penalties with each conviction.
First strike: A formal warning.
Second strike: No parole.
Third strike: Maximum sentence without parole.
For example, someone convicted of murder at second or third strike will face a minimum of 17 or 20 years behind bars with no early release.
The Act provides for some judicial discretion to prevent manifestly unjust outcomes. It also sets out principles and guidance to help the courts apply the law and allows a limited benefit for guilty pleas to spare victims further trauma and reduce court delays.
'Importantly, previous strike warnings still count if they meet the new sentencing threshold – ensuring serious repeat offenders can't escape accountability. The Ministry of Justice has published guidance to help affected individuals, and their lawyers check for active strikes,' Mrs McKee says.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
22 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Controversial West Coast mine has fast track-bid declined
By Kate Green of RNZ Te Kuha Mine on the West Coast has had its application for fast-track approval declined, after failing to meet seven of the application criteria. The project has raised concerns over its impact on the environment and had already been rejected multiple times by the courts. Now, a letter sent to the company behind the plan, Stevenson Mining, in March but only recently published, showed the application never got as far as the minister for final approval, with the Ministry for the Environment finding it did not comply with seven requirements in the Act. Notably, it lacked an explanation of why the fast-track approvals process would enable it to be processed in a more timely and cost-effective way than under normal processes. It did not consult with local authorities like Buller District Council, the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and the Department of Conservation. It did not address other approvals which would be needed for the project to go ahead, like access to land owned or administered by other parties, including KiwiRail, which runs the Stillwater to Ngākawau line near the proposed mine site. Stevenson Mining has been approached for comment. Te Kuha Coal Project would have created an opencut mine, with a footprint of 144 hectares, near Westport. It would have extracted some 4 million tonnes of coking coal - the kind used for making steel - over 16 years. It would have necessitated a land swap with the Department of Conservation, as it overlapped with stewardship land. The project had already been rejected by the Supreme Court in 2020 and the Environment Court in 2023. Adam Currie, campaigner for 350 Aotearoa, said it was welcome news. "MfE declining it for now is a win for the environment," he said. "It's the process in this instance working as it's supposed to." He said it showed the lack of regard for detail and process which mining companies often demonstrated. "It's pretty incredible that companies are making these massive applications that have ginormous impacts on all these things, and they're just not thinking through these basic things." But Patrick Phelps, manager of Minerals West Coast, said it was a new piece of legislation, and companies were "getting to grips with how it actually works". "It's a novel process - any applicant, they don't fully know what the expectations are. They'll get the best advice, hydrology experts, and they'll put forward the best information that they can. "While I'm disappointed that they haven't got over the line, I would simply say that that should be an indication to people that the fast-track process is not just a rubber stamp." A spokesperson from the Ministry for the Environment said it generally did not comment on individual fast-track referral applications, but explained that it checked referral applications against the requirements of the Acts. "Incomplete or non-compliant applications are returned to applicants, along with reasons for them being returned." Applications which met the requirements would then be sent on to the Infrastructure Minister (currently Chris Bishop), who gathered advice and reports on the project's impact and, if they saw fit, would refer it on to the final step, the expert panel. The ministry said applicants were allowed to reapply if their initial application was found to be incomplete, but it would be treated as a new application, with a fresh application fee - which, according to the MfE website, would cost $12,000.
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Govt's Empty Words Do Nothing To Stop Genocide In Gaza
The Government's announcement that it will 'formally consider' Palestinian statehood in September simply continues to delay any meaningful action. 'If the Government believes what it says about a two-state solution, it can and must recognise Palestine statehood, immediately,' says Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick. 'Palestinians cannot eat empty statements. 'Aotearoa has a proud history of standing up for human rights and justice, even when powerful allies disagree. Most UN member states already recognise Palestine. 'The Greens put forward a motion in Parliament to do this in 2021. National and ACT voted it down. Four years later, those same parties are tying their own hands to do the most basic things. 'The bare minimum New Zealanders should expect from their representatives is to put substance behind words. Last September, Aotearoa stood with 123 UN Member States to support a resolution calling for sanctions against those responsible for 'unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in relation to settler violence.' 'The Greens have drafted a Bill to sanction Israel. The only thing in the way of this law passing, right now, is identifying just six out of 68 Government members willing to stand on the right side of history. 'Palestine needs our action. The people of this country have been mobilising every week for two years demanding it. Luxon's Government can and must act - they are the only thing standing in their own way,' says Chlöe Swarbrick.
Newsroom
3 hours ago
- Newsroom
‘Turning women's wages into a political piggy bank'
It's a short walk from Parliament to the National Library – barely two minutes – but the journey comes with several reminders of the history of women's rights in New Zealand. Navigate a pedestrian crossing with a signal in the shape of famous suffragist Kate Sheppard, and you're greeted with a sign for the library's exhibition on the 1893 petition (spearheaded by Sheppard) that helped secure Kiwi women the right to vote. Little wonder then that the venue was chosen for the opening day of the People's Select Committee on Pay Equity. Made up of 10 female ex-MPs from four different parties, the group has come together to scrutinise the pay-equity changes rushed through under urgency by the coalition without any public input. As former Labour minister Nanaia Mahuta put it as she opened proceedings: 'We are here to do what the Government did not.' Perhaps wary of the wrath generated by the controversial changes, Mahuta asked submitters to refrain from making comments that 'may be defamatory of any individual'. She and the committee didn't need to worry, at least for the first day, with a surprisingly good-humoured mood among those gathered. Hugs, kisses and selfies were in plentiful supply as the (overwhelmingly female) crowd filtered into the room, while there were light moments throughout: 'These days, I pretend I'm retired,' former National MP and feminist scholar Marilyn Waring quipped as she introduced herself. Yet the subject at hand was undeniably heavy, with submitters expressing frustration at both the secretive and hasty nature of the Government's reforms and the real-world consequences for women being paid unfairly low wages. 'What was once a relatively straightforward, albeit occasionally lengthy road is now one filled with various potholes and roadblocks. The Government continues to insist it's a road, but it's not one that anyone can travel along anymore,' NZ Council of Trade Unions national secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges said. Ansell-Bridges said moving the threshold for claims from arguability to merit meant some would never get started – not because they lacked merit, but because the requirements could not be met unless the process was already underway, creating a Catch-22 situation. A workable and sustainable alternative to the existing pay-equity regime would have been celebrated by the Government, she said, the subject of public consultation and a full parliamentary process rather than rammed through overnight with no advance warning. 'It speaks to the shame felt by this Government, whose job it is to look after the interests of all New Zealanders, as they strip away half our population's access to the fundamental rights.' The financial cost of the changes goes beyond hypothetical foregone income in the future, too. Aged Care Association chief executive and former New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin said the sector had spent close to $500,000 in the last year gathering information for a care and support workers' pay equity claim, with much of the work done at the Government's request – even as it was working in secret to overhaul the regime. 'We invested significant time and resources only to find those efforts wasted – this breach of good faith will take some time and genuine effort on behalf of governments to repair,' Martin said. She painstakingly laid out the complex range of duties carried out by aged-care workers: clinical support and medical assistance, the administration of medication, nutritional care, using de-escalation techniques to manage agitation, providing companionship, and maintaining 'warmth and patience' even in challenging moments, to name just a few. 'It is complex, skilled, and physically and emotionally demanding work that requires ongoing training, professional resilience and unwavering commitment to quality of life for some of New Zealand's most vulnerable citizens … 'If you listen to the jobs that they do, the skills that they have, you could immediately go out yourself and find a male-dominated sector that is required to have the same skills and that could not be employed at the price that we are currently paying our carers – but we cannot do it if the Government washes its hands of its responsibilities.' Former Governor-General and High Court judge Dame Silvia Cartwright provided a legal view of the Government's changes, noting the retrospective nature of shutting down claims already underway went against principles of good law-making and could damage New Zealand's international reputation. Cartwright predicted 'significant amounts of litigation' related to the new law, while noting a number of appeal rights had been narrowed by the changes. 'I think that the courts, if they can get a case before them after getting through all the very many barriers, will do their best to make things fairer, but it's going to be very difficult.' Tony McCombs, the great-grandson of New Zealand's first woman MP Elizabeth McCombs. Photo: Sam Sachdeva Somewhat ironically, the loudest applause of the day went to one of the few men in the audience. Tony McCombs, the great-grandson of New Zealand's first woman MP Elizabeth McCombs, offered a scathing criticism of the Government as he reflected on his ancestor's legacy. 'In her maiden speech way back in 1933 she said, 'I wish to work for the women and children of this country, and I hope to see the day when women will receive equal pay for equal work' … 'If Elizabeth McCombs were here, she would rise with righteous rage and ask, 'How dare you? How dare you erase progress with the stroke of a pen? How dare you undo a century of struggle in a single vote? How dare you silence the voices of working women and call it reform?'' McCombs said he wanted his own daughter (also named Elizabeth, and working as an early childhood teacher) and granddaughters to live in a country where they were treated fairly and equally, 'not fighting the same battles over and over again'. 'These changes are not about fairness. They are not about sustainability. They are about saving money at the expense of those already underpaid, turning women's wages into a political piggy bank.' With the committee's hearings continuing until October, and over 1500 submissions received, such expressions of anger will hardly be unique – but will they change anything? Asked about the hearings on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon indicated he had no regrets about the Government's decision, and no intention of reversing the changes. 'Look, I mean, I think we have canvassed this area at the time when we first talked about it, which is that we fundamentally feel the system got too broad, too loose, and, frankly, unworkable.' Asked by Newsroom what she hoped would come of the committee's work, Mahuta was non-committal. 'I think the Government's already reflecting on a process that has fallen short of keeping faith with women in the workforce – women who are doing very, very valuable work as teachers, as carers under some of the hardest conditions. 'So if they're not already reflecting on the process and what they might do, we're certainly listening to the people.' Barring a change of government at next year's election – and a change in law following it – providing the public with a sense of comfort in being heard may be all the group can hope for.
