Paul Goldsmith: Justice Minister on ensuring victims of crime receive reparations

The Justice Minister says he's hunting for a solution to make sure victims of crime get their reparations.  

Figures released under the Official Information Act show almost half of all court-ordered reparation payments are overdue – $105 million owed to victims.  

Paul Goldsmith says there's scope for taking it out of people's benefits.  

He told Mike Hosking while they don't want to send people to prison, there needs to be an incentive to pay.  

Goldsmith says he's looking for an annoying and painful punishment that will make criminals pay up. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thousands of victims of crime missing out on court ordered reparation.
We've got ten and a half thousand payments over you
right now. With the further twenty three thousand, seven hundred outstanding,
it's one hundred and five million dollars that people are
missing out on. The Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith with us
on this Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hardly a surprise given the people you're dealing with. They're
not fulsome in their ability or need or desire to pay,
are they?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
No, But it is a hopeless situation. It's been like
this for a very long time and everybody's aware it.
You know, something happens, you get this a reparation and
that's two dollars a week, or it doesn't happen, and
so there aren't the real consequences for crime. Unfortunately. It's
this one of the many issues in the justice sector
that we're working our way through. And I've certainly given

(00:45):
instructions that we've got to come up with a better solution.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Are they what's that coming up with a better solution.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, they haven't come up with it yet. I'll just
remind you that last year we were focusing on sentencing
and the gang stuff. Make good progress there now dealing
with stalking and name suppression rules and retail crime. The
next cab off the rank will be that, you know,
is an equally appalling situation in terms of people waiting
three years for to get cases. So the slow processes

(01:14):
of the courts and this one is the next problem
that we've got to deal with. And the challenge of
puts them is this Simply we've got you know, we
can send people to jail, or we can give them
a fine, but we actually need something more effective in
the middle for people who don't actually pay the fine.
We don't necessarily want to put them in prison. And
you know, so it's a kind of the community service
type thing. I'd be interested in your listeners if they

(01:36):
could come up with. I think we've got to come
up with something that's irritating and difficult and annoying which
forces people to actually get on with it and pay
the fines.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Most of these people will beyond benefits, take it out
of their benefits.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, Yet that that already happens in certain circumstances that.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, exactly, why don't you solve the problem if you've
got the mechanism just take it out until they pay
their bill.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yes, but there's also I mean that there's child support payments,
there's traffic fines, all sorts of things coming out, and
that's the limit. And so I think the problem. Yes,
I mean that there's scope for doing that more, and
the scope for having more consequences at the border and
all those sorts of things. We're into that, but I
still think we need to come up with a better

(02:19):
solution that provides something that's irritating and painful, that annoys people,
that forces them to getting out and paying the fines.
And that's what I'm looking for.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
And how about a small segment on my show once
a week where I name and shame them.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, that's good idea. I'm into that, Mike.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
There we go. See this is the home of my ideas.
Paul anytime you welcome Paul Goldsmith, who is the Justice Minister.
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast. Listen live to
news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.