By Tess Bartlett - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

I remind [the National Party] that under the Sentencing Act, a courtsentencing a person who commits an aggravated murder can impose anon­parole period of not 10 years, but 17 years. I remind [theNational Party] that under the new laws the judges are instructed thatthe worst crime results in the maximum sentence … an inmate willnow stay in prison to the very last day of his or her sentence, I callthat leadership. That is why 92 percent of New Zealand voted for theNorm Withers referendum.(New Zealand Parliament, 2002f: Par. 2­3)There are two points to be made about this statement. First, Goff has indeed made asymbolic gesture: he has attempted to confirm government capability byemphasising, what he considers to be, the punitive aspects of the legislation, and indoing so, he has reassured members of the public that their needs have beenaccounted for.However, in making this statement he has drawn attention to the second significantpoint: while the government was attempting to win public support by outbidding theother parties on punitivity, the Sentencing Act changed very little in terms ofsentencing practice. Goff has drawn attention to section 8(c) which informs judges(some would argue unnecessarily, see Roberts, 2003, for details) that the maximumpenalty should be reserved only for the worst cases ("Sentencing Act," 2002). This isa common assumption in most jurisdictions and does little to alter what was alreadyin place. The other purposes and principles outlined in section 7 reflect thephilosophical purposes of imprisonment that have been characteristic of legislationin New Zealand throughout the twentieth century. These include reparation,denunciation, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and reintegration, and further,that the offender should be held accountable and responsible for their actions("Sentencing Act," 2002). Ironically, at a time when the government was attemptingto please the public by ‘getting tough’ on crime, section 7 did not include the term‘punishment’ as a purpose of sentencing. Act New Zealand member Stephen Franksused it to illustrate the government’s ‘soft’ approach to penal policy:67