Monday, November 12, 2012



This week's distraction

Unemployment at record levels? A Minister looking whiffy over corruption? An embarrassing contracting-out failure which makes Ministers look incompetent? There's nothing for National to do but spin the wheel! And this week, its landed on that old reliable distraction, crime!

Dangerous repeat violent offenders and sex offenders could be monitored for the rest of their lives after release from prison, says Police and Corrections Minister Anne Tolley.

She wants to develop a comprehensive management scheme similar to one run in Britain and says a law allowing it could be passed by the 2014 election.

The Government also has a measure before Parliament that would allow ex-prisoners to be sent back to jail indefinitely if the High Court deemed them dangerous enough.


Oh, those dirty crims, being allowed to resume their lives after completing their sentences. Better put a stop to that! That'll get the sadism vote out, and stop people talking about those terrible economic statistics (or, more importantly, stop the Prime Minister from talking about it and telling everyone that he doesn't give a shit).

as you can tell, I am quite cynical about this measure. But I'm even more cynical about the way that under National, justice policy seems driven not by sector needs, but by the need to provide distractions from failure in other areas. This is not a way to get good policy, and it is beginning to show.