By Tess Bartlett - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

In keeping crime out of the public domain it is interesting to note, at this point, theapproach taken by the National (conservative) and Labour parties to the 1987election as it was markedly different from what was to follow at the beginning of thetwenty­first century. Both parties refrained from trying to ‘popularise’ law and orderas an election issue. For instance, instead of the popular law and order stance, theLabour Party focused heavily on the rule of law, omitting crime from its policydocuments and instead, using the humane and equitable treatment of defendants andvictims as its main priority (New Zealand Labour Party, 1987). Labouracknowledged that there was, indeed, growing public concern regarding violentcrime, but this was to be addressed by calling on expert opinion (Pratt & Clark,2005). To do so, the Labour Party requested the formation of a MinisterialCommittee to tackle the issue of violent crime (see Ministerial Committee of Inquiryinto Violence, 1987). In contrast, the National Party positioned themselves alongsidethe police, focusing its attention on public safety and law enforcement (New ZealandNational Party, 1987). In a policy document, National noted that as a Party it would‘meet any reasonable request from the police for the equipment and legal powersthey need to do the job we expect of them’ (New Zealand National Party, 1987:Section 2). For both parties then, the 1987 election campaign had no involvement ofvictims of crime or groups claiming to speak on behalf of ‘the public’. Instead, crimeand punishment were issues to be resolved by experts, of one kind or other.The Age of InsecurityHowever, after the stable post­war period in New Zealand, a period of immenseinsecurity began to develop. This section will examine the period of social insecurityfrom the 1980s through to the end of the twentieth century. The Labour governmentcame to power in 1984 and governed through to 1990, restructuring the New Zealandeconomy, as New Zealand moved, almost overnight, from being the most regulatedto the most unregulated Western economy. The new government made taxationchanges that extended inequality and social division. This, along with rising levels ofunemployment, increased public anxieties as citizens began to feel insecure in theirdaily lives. Furthermore, the sense of social cohesion and solidarity that had existedin the post­war era began to recede as the population became increasinglyheterogeneous. At the same time, rising crime became established as a normal ‘social29