Paul Goldsmith: Justice Minister on the number of criminals being sent to prison reaching an all-time high

The number of convicted criminals being sent to prison is at an all-time high. 

Ministry of Justice data shows more than seven thousand people were sent to prison following convictions in the year to June, up 14% on the previous year. 

The proportion of people who received prison sentences is the highest on record, at 15%. 

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Ryan Bridge their focus is on reducing victims of crime, not sending people to jail. 

But he says if it leads to a higher prison population in the short term, so be it. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do the crime do the time. This is new Ministry
of Justice figures out this morning. The year to June seven,
four hundred people were sent to prison following a conviction.
That is a fourteen percent jump on last year, a
thirty five percent jump on twenty two to twenty three.
Paul Goldsmith, the Justice minister. Minister, good morning, good morning,
how are you good? Thank you? Is that as high

(00:21):
as you would want it?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, I mean, our focus is not on a prison number.
Our focus is on reducing the number of victims of crime.
And so what we're seeing that there has been a
bit of a rebalancing going on. You know, the previous
government was focused on reducing the prison population come what may,
and unfortunately that sort of at the same time we
had a big increase in crime, and particularly violent crime.
And so our focus is on reducing the number of

(00:46):
victims of crime and if that leads to a higher
prison population in the short term, will show be it
a long term? Of course, we want to have less crime,
less people in prison.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Is the Are the rates making sense? In other words,
we've got to four four team percent increase in prison
sentences following convictions. Are we seeing a consummate four in
violent crime reporting.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, yeah, I mean, look, all these figures are complicated,
these big lags. The figure that we focus on in
terms of our target is the Crime and Victims Survey,
because a lot of people don't report crime to the
police and that doesn't go through the whole core process,
but they're still victims, and on that score we are
seeing an improvement. We had one hundred and eighty five

(01:31):
thousand New Zealanders being a victim of serious violent or
sexual offending when we came to power. That numbers down
to one hundred and fifty six thousand. Still one hundred
and fifty six thousand too many, but it is a
significant improvement. So we're making progress. There are a fewer
victims of crime, but there's a hell of a lot
more work to do.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Maldi two times more likely to get a prison sentence
than non Maldi, non Maldi more likely to get a
monetary sentence. Why racist judges or types of crime?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Well, look, I think it's primarily the later. That if
the vast majority of people who go to prison in
New Zealand are there for serious violent or sexual offending, yes,
that these stature are slight and increase in the number
of people for drug offenses, but that's still a very
small minority of people in prison. Most people going to
prison in New Zealand have committed serious folance or sexual

(02:21):
offending and we make no apology. We need to have
clear consequences for crime and our focuses on keeping the
people of New Zealand safe.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
What's your take on the Tom Phillipson junction situation? Is
your view that are because it's out there, just because
it's on social media, we should let it run.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
No, it's not my view. My view is that the
courts have imposed suppression orders and that's for the courts
to decide, and I'm not going to interfere with that
in any way, shape or form. There is obviously a
challenge in the sense that the fact that people get
their information all from all around the world and it's

(02:58):
impossible to police internest and what people in Kazakhstan are
saying on TikTok or whatever, then that's a challenge. And
the only point I'd make is that nobody's presented me
with an effective solution to that. But we're looking and
if we could find one, we would, But in the meantime,
courts are doing the best they can.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
What's the punishment, because not just people in kazakhstance, people here.
What is the punishment?

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, I don't know the exact figure, but that there
is certainly a potential finds for people who break suppression orders.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Is a fine enough?

Speaker 2 (03:30):
That's a matter for the courts to impost. Well, they
may have more. I'm sorry, I just don't. I don't
have the details in front of me. But the courts
have the ability to enforce that. But that obviously is
for them to and the police to make decisions around that.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Do you think it's time to double down? I mean,
whatever the punishment is, clearly it's not enough because people
aren't scared enough, you know what I mean. And you're
all about harsher penalty, so is this something you'll.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Look Well, sorry, I'm not all about harsher penalties. I'm
about consequences for crime. But I'm about reducing the number
of victims of crime. That's our real focus. And you know,
look on my primary focus is on trying to reduce
the number of people who are victims of violent and
sexual offending. And that's the number one priority. And there's
still a huge amount of work to do there.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
All right, okay, good to see Paul goldsmiths Houesday Justice Minister.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Time for more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen
live to News Talks it'd be from five am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio