Paul Goldsmith: Justice Minister on the number of victims of violent crime falling by 38,000

The Justice Minister isn't resting on his laurels following optimistic new crime data.  

The Crime and Victims Survey shows there were 147 thousand victims of serious violent crime in the year to August.  

That’s 38 thousand fewer victims than when the coalition came into Government in 2023.  

Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking the outcome is a result of the Government going after gangs and the three-strikes law.  

He says it has also ended the last Government's culture of excuses. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good news, if that's the right phrase. On violent crime.
We've got one hundred and forty seven thousand victims of
serious violent crime in the twelve months to August, but
that is a drop of thirty eight thousand in the
time of the government. Basically, it's a drop of nine
thousand in the last quarter alone. Also marks, of course,
one year since the gang laws came in, one hundred
and eighty two patches seized, two hundred and fifty five charges.

(00:20):
Late Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is with us. Good morning,
good morning. These numbers. One hundred and forty seven thousand
victims is still a stunning number of victims.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Absolutely absolutely, But we came in twenty three with one
hundred and eighty five thousand New Zealand as being a
victim of serious violent crime or sexual offending. That's far
too many. That's so we set a goal of getting
it down to one hundred and sixty five by twenty
twenty nine. The good news is we're almost doubled that
in a short period of time. But you're right, one
hundred and forty seven thousand people are still too many,

(00:50):
and that's why we're determined to go much further.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
So given these numbers, what's your level of satisfaction.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, I'm pleased that we're making progress as a country
because you know, there's thirty eight thousand and fewer victims
of crime. That's thirty eight thousand families that don't have
to go through the trauma and horror of dealing with
violent crime. So that's a huge win. But like I say,
we're not going to arrest in our laurels because now
we want New Zealanders to feel safe in their community
and in their homes. And there was a huge amount

(01:17):
to do, but we're making good progress.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
And so you're making progress, how longest sentences, you're simply
taking the people who were committing the crime and locking
them up or.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Not, there's an element of that. I mean, the obvious
place to start is with that very small group of
New Zealanders who create the most victims over and over
and again, which is why we've targeted the gangs. Less
than a quarter of one percent of adult New Zealanders
are in gangs, but they're associated with nearly twenty five
percent of the violent crime. So good place to start.
That's why we did the three strikes. You know, lock
up the most serious repeat offenders. That's why we've toughened
up the sentencing regime to reduce the amount of discounts

(01:46):
that judges can offer. So yes, that's part of it.
And also it's about sending a clear message. You know,
the previous government was all about, you know, a culture
of excuses. It wasn't your fault, it was society's fault.
It was something else's fault. We've changed that message.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Having us accountable. Having said that, is this like perception
in health? So health, you never spent more in health,
but the perception is health is still broken. Is it
the same with crime and justice? It doesn't matter what
you do, somebody somewhere is going to say you're failing.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Well, look, I mean people are naturally right. But when
you look at the overall concerns that New Zealanders have
when we were campaigning two years ago, crime was number
two or three on the list of things that people
worried about. It's much lower now because I think the
publican and see we're making good progress, but they want
us to keep that momentum up because there's much more
to do.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
All right, appreciate it. You have a good weekend. Justice
Minster Paul Goldsmith. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast,
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