August 30, 2025 • 12 mins
The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey shows 156,000 victims of serious violent crimes in the year to May.
It's down 29,000 from when National took office in 2023, and the drop is largely made up of family violence incidents.
However, the number of sexual assault victims has increased by 3,000 in only three months.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
New Zealand Crime and Victims survey shows one hundred and
fifty six thousand victims of serious violent crimes in the
year to May. Now that's a lot of people. But
guess what, it's down twenty nine thousand from when National
took office in twenty twenty three. In the drop is
largely made up of family violence incidents. However, the number
of sexual assault victims has increased by about three thousand
(00:31):
and only three months. And Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith joins me, Now, good.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Afternoon, good afternoon, how are you going? Good? Good?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Um, it's still a hell of hell of a number,
isn't it. But put it into context for us, twenty
nine thousand fewer victims of serious violent crime. Is this
something we can genuinely bank on to continue or just
to dip.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, look, when we came in back in October twenty three,
we focused the whole justice sector on the primary goal,
which is to reduce the number of victims of crime.
I'm particularly violent and sexual offending and so that's the focus.
That's what it's all about. We want to have fewer
victims of crime. We had one hundred and eighty five
(01:15):
thousand as the starting point. We set a goal of
dropping that by twenty thousand by twenty twenty nine. Now,
the good news is that we're ahead of that and
so that we feel positive. But of course, as you say,
it's still one hundred and fifty six thousand too many,
and there's much much work to do. But at least
we feel like we're heading in the right direction. And
(01:36):
there's a whole lot of reasons for that, but been
part of it is a real change.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
In culture, a trained and culture where from a.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Culture of excuses that we had previously that you know,
if you did something wrong, it wasn't really your fault,
it was everybody else's fault, or it was an accident
of history or something like that, to a return of
personal accountability and clear consequences for crime. Remember, you know,
the previous administration I died to sort of go about it.
(02:05):
But the previous administration had a sole focus, which was
to reduce the prison population, irrespective of what was happening
in the community. And you know, we want to have
fewer people in prison, but only if it's a result
of fewer crimes being committed, and that's why we've shifted
the focus to reducing the number of victims. That's what
it's all about.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Because the press release was out in your name and
also Mark Mitchell, there's a bit of talk of beat cops,
but actually what is the cause of this drop in crime?
And I guess that relates to where is the serious
crime happening? Because it's either street crime dropping down or
it's somewhere completely different. What is it?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, I mean, look, there's lots of things going on.
I mean, as you can imagine, this is hugely complex.
There's family violence, there's non family violence, is sexual offending,
there's different parts of the country you're going at a
different rate, So there's no one single thing. I would
(03:03):
argue that the differences was that we've, like I say,
had that very clear focus on accountability and then we've
given the police a lot of extra tools to deal
with gangs. If you want to reduce the number of
victims of crime, the obvious place to start is with
that very small group of New Zealanders who create multiple
victims time and time and time again, and frankly, by
(03:27):
locking some of those repeat offenders up. So the return
of three strikes, tougher sentencing, tougher gang laws slowly having
an impact, and we expect them to have more of
an impact over time. And then we'll put some extra
police on the beat and put some extra resources into that,
and also you know, to send a very clear, strong
(03:48):
message that you know, this is not something that's acceptable
and we're going to keep pushing until we make even
further progress. I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I mean, and it's difficult to generalize some things up simply,
isn't it. But where is this because these stats are
about serious violent crime, where does most of the serious
or where are the two or three of the sort
of places where serious violent crime really takes place?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Are you talking geographically?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
No? No, I mean in the home, in businesses, on
the street, you know, in the pub, in the sports ground.
I mean you have any information on that?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well? Well, look, I mean we do continue to have
a real challenge with family violence in the home, so
that continues and we've got a big, huge focus on
that obviously. Then you know, outside the home, the most
dangerous places to be sort of in central Auckland at
four am in the morning, and so it's very easy
(04:44):
to avoid being a victim of crime in that regard,
just don't be there because that's a dangerous sort of
place to be. So there's that sort of thing going on,
and all about the regions there's sort of hot spots
and going but you know, there's obviously a clear connection
with the gang activity and that's why we've got a
(05:05):
focus on that. But you know, we've got long standing
challenges around violent sexual offending all throughout the community. The
good news as we're making progress, but there's a thing
of a long way to go yet.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
What do you think is behind that climb and sexual
assault victims?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Well, look, I mean, yes, there has been a five
percent increase over that period, but it does bounce around
a little bit, so you know, we'll hope, hopefully we'll
be able to turn that around in the next period.
What the survey does is it sort of surveys people
over what's happened over the past over the past year
(05:44):
and gathers that together and so there's you know, it
does bounce around a bit. One of the couple of
things we've done in that space recently is we've nearly
passed stalking legislation anti stalking legislation, which will send I
think a very powerful message in that space. We've also
changed the laws so that convicted sex adult sex offenders
(06:06):
can't get name suppression again. That will help. It's all
about being clear and accountable about this side of sexual offending,
saying that we're don't tolerated at all, and dealing with
that again, small group who create multiple victims.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So twenty nine fewer victims. Are you confident that we
can see that continue, that trend continue.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Well, that's very much our hope and desire, but you know,
we can't rest in our laurels at a lot of
the changes, legislative changes we've made have relatively recently come
into effect. We've got a whole new suite of additional
things that we're doing in the retail crime space which
is designed to sort of deal with the scourge of
(06:53):
a retail crime, and that'll be coming through the pipeline.
We're very, very determined to keep pushing every way. You know,
if you ask New Zealanders back in twenty twenty three,
the top two or three issues I worried about, cost
of living, law and order was up there. Law and order.
It has dropped off over the past little while and
we regard that as a measure of success, but we
(07:14):
don't for a moment I think we can take our
take the pressure off, because the moment you take your
eye off the ball, that will come back. And so
we're very determined to keep on looking for the next
area where we can make progress.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
There will be critics who say that the measures you've
got with beat policing and three strikes and things don't
actually address the root causes of crime. What would your
response to that be, Well, you've got to do both.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah. Absolutely. If you're worried about youth crime, you know,
the most important thing you've got to do is deal
with rampant truancy in our education system and deal with them.
You know, there were three thousand families in emergency housing
when we took over, in hotels and rotal rur and
places like that. So dealing with those issues more effectively
absolutely part of the program, as well as dealing more
(08:00):
effectively with addictions, alcohol and myth and things like that.
A lot of work going on in that space as well.
So and also one thing we did the first budget
was put some change the law and put some resources
into allow nearly half the people who are locked up
at the moment are on remand which means that they're
(08:21):
still waiting for either their trial or for sentencing. And
that's a function of real challenges around the court processes.
But up till now they haven't had access to rehabilitation programs.
We'll change that so they do. So there's a whole
lot of work that we're doing in that space as well.
So you know, there's not one side to the justice approach. Yes,
we've got to be tougher and more punitive, but also
got to deal with those other issues and we're doing both.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Just one last question, So the numbers are down for
serious violent crime, gang numbers are up, So where does
can you put that in context?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
For me?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I mean, how much of the gangs involved in the
serious crime Because we see that there are more people
apparently joining gangs. I don't know how to sort of
make sense of that well.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yet. I mean, we've had a huge challenge as a
country with the five ozho ones from Australia flooding, and
so what we have managed to do is drastically slow
the increase in gang membership. It was rampant. Now it's
still growing, but much much more slowly. And we hope
to be able to turn it around and actually shrink it.
(09:27):
But what we have done is through that gang patch legislation,
which you know, a lot of people thought, oh, no,
it's not going to work, while it has worked very
well and so people don't see the membership and don't
forget that sort of visual presence and intimidation was a
very big part of their overall approach and recruitment and
everything like that. And so we've made real progress there.
(09:49):
But there's also a lot of work being done in
the money laundering space and all sorts of things are
trying to deal with that more effectively. But now, look,
anybody who stands up and says this is a problem
that we're going to fix us like that streaming, it's hard, hard,
hard work and you've just got to keep hammering away.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Well no, I mean it's you know, you don't want to.
You can never celebrate figures, but you must be a
degree of the degree of slight satisfaction or relief that
that things are changing.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
A little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we do. We
feel like we're on the right track and we want
to just keep going. And because you know, people deserve
to feel safe in their communities and and you know,
I think overall, you know, we describe ourselves as a
as a safe country, and internationally that's the case. But
(10:35):
as we've all felt that is that is that can come,
that can come unstuck very easily, and people can can
feel like there's a sense of disorder. And we're doing
the very best we can to bring that back to
community expectations so that people can feel safe. And you know,
and that's the most important thing you can.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Actually, I did say that was the last question. I
do one cheeky last question, and how much of how
important does it? It's one thing to have stats, but
how important is it that actually people, regardless of the stats,
actually feel safer. So the visible presence of police and
all sorts, and the steps you're take in I mean,
the perception versus reality. I guess they both play well.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yes, I mean obviously they're interrelated, but both are important.
Just so that you know, it's a big part of
feeling good about our country and who we are and
feeling confident about going out and engaging. One of my
other hats is a Minister for the arts. If you're
(11:33):
if you're trying to get somebody into into the center
center of the city for a concert. The quality of
the concert is important, but if people don't feel safe
going into the CBD, well they just don't and that
that has a real impact. It flows through to everything.
So community safety and perceptions of community safety are so important.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, good stuff. I'm still waiting for Paul Goldsmith and
concert with the NZ.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
So.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
By the way, well, thanks all, I appreciate your time.
Thank yous as Paul Goldsmith, Justice Minister.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
New Zealand Crime and Victims survey shows one hundred and
fifty six thousand victims of serious violent crimes in the
year to May. Now that's a lot of people. But
guess what, it's down twenty nine thousand from when National
took office in twenty twenty three. In the drop is
largely made up of family violence incidents. However, the number
of sexual assault victims has increased by about three thousand
(00:31):
and only three months. And Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith joins me, Now, good.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Afternoon, good afternoon, how are you going? Good? Good?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Um, it's still a hell of hell of a number,
isn't it. But put it into context for us, twenty
nine thousand fewer victims of serious violent crime. Is this
something we can genuinely bank on to continue or just
to dip.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, look, when we came in back in October twenty three,
we focused the whole justice sector on the primary goal,
which is to reduce the number of victims of crime.
I'm particularly violent and sexual offending and so that's the focus.
That's what it's all about. We want to have fewer
victims of crime. We had one hundred and eighty five
(01:15):
thousand as the starting point. We set a goal of
dropping that by twenty thousand by twenty twenty nine. Now,
the good news is that we're ahead of that and
so that we feel positive. But of course, as you say,
it's still one hundred and fifty six thousand too many,
and there's much much work to do. But at least
we feel like we're heading in the right direction. And
(01:36):
there's a whole lot of reasons for that, but been
part of it is a real change.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
In culture, a trained and culture where from a.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Culture of excuses that we had previously that you know,
if you did something wrong, it wasn't really your fault,
it was everybody else's fault, or it was an accident
of history or something like that, to a return of
personal accountability and clear consequences for crime. Remember, you know,
the previous administration I died to sort of go about it.
(02:05):
But the previous administration had a sole focus, which was
to reduce the prison population, irrespective of what was happening
in the community. And you know, we want to have
fewer people in prison, but only if it's a result
of fewer crimes being committed, and that's why we've shifted
the focus to reducing the number of victims. That's what
it's all about.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Because the press release was out in your name and
also Mark Mitchell, there's a bit of talk of beat cops,
but actually what is the cause of this drop in crime?
And I guess that relates to where is the serious
crime happening? Because it's either street crime dropping down or
it's somewhere completely different. What is it?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, I mean, look, there's lots of things going on.
I mean, as you can imagine, this is hugely complex.
There's family violence, there's non family violence, is sexual offending,
there's different parts of the country you're going at a
different rate, So there's no one single thing. I would
(03:03):
argue that the differences was that we've, like I say,
had that very clear focus on accountability and then we've
given the police a lot of extra tools to deal
with gangs. If you want to reduce the number of
victims of crime, the obvious place to start is with
that very small group of New Zealanders who create multiple
victims time and time and time again, and frankly, by
(03:27):
locking some of those repeat offenders up. So the return
of three strikes, tougher sentencing, tougher gang laws slowly having
an impact, and we expect them to have more of
an impact over time. And then we'll put some extra
police on the beat and put some extra resources into that,
and also you know, to send a very clear, strong
(03:48):
message that you know, this is not something that's acceptable
and we're going to keep pushing until we make even
further progress. I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I mean, and it's difficult to generalize some things up simply,
isn't it. But where is this because these stats are
about serious violent crime, where does most of the serious
or where are the two or three of the sort
of places where serious violent crime really takes place?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Are you talking geographically?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
No? No, I mean in the home, in businesses, on
the street, you know, in the pub, in the sports ground.
I mean you have any information on that?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well? Well, look, I mean we do continue to have
a real challenge with family violence in the home, so
that continues and we've got a big, huge focus on
that obviously. Then you know, outside the home, the most
dangerous places to be sort of in central Auckland at
four am in the morning, and so it's very easy
(04:44):
to avoid being a victim of crime in that regard,
just don't be there because that's a dangerous sort of
place to be. So there's that sort of thing going on,
and all about the regions there's sort of hot spots
and going but you know, there's obviously a clear connection
with the gang activity and that's why we've got a
(05:05):
focus on that. But you know, we've got long standing
challenges around violent sexual offending all throughout the community. The
good news as we're making progress, but there's a thing
of a long way to go yet.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
What do you think is behind that climb and sexual
assault victims?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Well, look, I mean, yes, there has been a five
percent increase over that period, but it does bounce around
a little bit, so you know, we'll hope, hopefully we'll
be able to turn that around in the next period.
What the survey does is it sort of surveys people
over what's happened over the past over the past year
(05:44):
and gathers that together and so there's you know, it
does bounce around a bit. One of the couple of
things we've done in that space recently is we've nearly
passed stalking legislation anti stalking legislation, which will send I
think a very powerful message in that space. We've also
changed the laws so that convicted sex adult sex offenders
(06:06):
can't get name suppression again. That will help. It's all
about being clear and accountable about this side of sexual offending,
saying that we're don't tolerated at all, and dealing with
that again, small group who create multiple victims.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So twenty nine fewer victims. Are you confident that we
can see that continue, that trend continue.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Well, that's very much our hope and desire, but you know,
we can't rest in our laurels at a lot of
the changes, legislative changes we've made have relatively recently come
into effect. We've got a whole new suite of additional
things that we're doing in the retail crime space which
is designed to sort of deal with the scourge of
(06:53):
a retail crime, and that'll be coming through the pipeline.
We're very, very determined to keep pushing every way. You know,
if you ask New Zealanders back in twenty twenty three,
the top two or three issues I worried about, cost
of living, law and order was up there. Law and order.
It has dropped off over the past little while and
we regard that as a measure of success, but we
(07:14):
don't for a moment I think we can take our
take the pressure off, because the moment you take your
eye off the ball, that will come back. And so
we're very determined to keep on looking for the next
area where we can make progress.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
There will be critics who say that the measures you've
got with beat policing and three strikes and things don't
actually address the root causes of crime. What would your
response to that be, Well, you've got to do both.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah. Absolutely. If you're worried about youth crime, you know,
the most important thing you've got to do is deal
with rampant truancy in our education system and deal with them.
You know, there were three thousand families in emergency housing
when we took over, in hotels and rotal rur and
places like that. So dealing with those issues more effectively
absolutely part of the program, as well as dealing more
(08:00):
effectively with addictions, alcohol and myth and things like that.
A lot of work going on in that space as well.
So and also one thing we did the first budget
was put some change the law and put some resources
into allow nearly half the people who are locked up
at the moment are on remand which means that they're
(08:21):
still waiting for either their trial or for sentencing. And
that's a function of real challenges around the court processes.
But up till now they haven't had access to rehabilitation programs.
We'll change that so they do. So there's a whole
lot of work that we're doing in that space as well.
So you know, there's not one side to the justice approach. Yes,
we've got to be tougher and more punitive, but also
got to deal with those other issues and we're doing both.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Just one last question, So the numbers are down for
serious violent crime, gang numbers are up, So where does
can you put that in context?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
For me?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I mean, how much of the gangs involved in the
serious crime Because we see that there are more people
apparently joining gangs. I don't know how to sort of
make sense of that well.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yet. I mean, we've had a huge challenge as a
country with the five ozho ones from Australia flooding, and
so what we have managed to do is drastically slow
the increase in gang membership. It was rampant. Now it's
still growing, but much much more slowly. And we hope
to be able to turn it around and actually shrink it.
(09:27):
But what we have done is through that gang patch legislation,
which you know, a lot of people thought, oh, no,
it's not going to work, while it has worked very
well and so people don't see the membership and don't
forget that sort of visual presence and intimidation was a
very big part of their overall approach and recruitment and
everything like that. And so we've made real progress there.
(09:49):
But there's also a lot of work being done in
the money laundering space and all sorts of things are
trying to deal with that more effectively. But now, look,
anybody who stands up and says this is a problem
that we're going to fix us like that streaming, it's hard, hard,
hard work and you've just got to keep hammering away.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Well no, I mean it's you know, you don't want to.
You can never celebrate figures, but you must be a
degree of the degree of slight satisfaction or relief that
that things are changing.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
A little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we do. We
feel like we're on the right track and we want
to just keep going. And because you know, people deserve
to feel safe in their communities and and you know,
I think overall, you know, we describe ourselves as a
as a safe country, and internationally that's the case. But
(10:35):
as we've all felt that is that is that can come,
that can come unstuck very easily, and people can can
feel like there's a sense of disorder. And we're doing
the very best we can to bring that back to
community expectations so that people can feel safe. And you know,
and that's the most important thing you can.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Actually, I did say that was the last question. I
do one cheeky last question, and how much of how
important does it? It's one thing to have stats, but
how important is it that actually people, regardless of the stats,
actually feel safer. So the visible presence of police and
all sorts, and the steps you're take in I mean,
the perception versus reality. I guess they both play well.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yes, I mean obviously they're interrelated, but both are important.
Just so that you know, it's a big part of
feeling good about our country and who we are and
feeling confident about going out and engaging. One of my
other hats is a Minister for the arts. If you're
(11:33):
if you're trying to get somebody into into the center
center of the city for a concert. The quality of
the concert is important, but if people don't feel safe
going into the CBD, well they just don't and that
that has a real impact. It flows through to everything.
So community safety and perceptions of community safety are so important.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, good stuff. I'm still waiting for Paul Goldsmith and
concert with the NZ.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
So.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
By the way, well, thanks all, I appreciate your time.
Thank yous as Paul Goldsmith, Justice Minister.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.