Specialist drug and alcohol courts in Auckland will be made permanent and a new one will be opened in Hamilton, Justice Minister Andrew Little has announced as part of a pre-election-year promise for major reform of the justice system.
Releasing two independent reports that deeply criticise the sector, Little on Thursday said the Government would embark on a “new direction” in the criminal justice system in a bid to tackle reoffending and incarceration rates.
“Thirty years of locking more people up for longer has not changed reoffending rates nor made communities safer,” Little said.
“One thing I am not going to do is get into a bidding war, puffing our chests out, showing how hairy-chested we are and how tough we are going to be.”
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First published NZ Herald, December 23, 2019
