National Party - State of the nation speech
National leader John Key said he will get tough on youth crime and what he describes as "unexploded time-bombs on a fast-track to Paremoremo".
In his state of the nation speech at a hotel in Ellerslie this afternoon, Mr Key said National would introduce army boot camps as part of Fresh Start Programmes, double the length of residential sentences and issue electronic bracelets for those who do not comply with court ordered supervision contracts.
He said the Youth Court will also have its jurisdiction increased to hear cases involving 12 and 13 year-old offenders. Currently the minimum age is 14.
He also pledged parenting courses, mentoring programmes and drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
His speech comes after a series of high-profile murders during January, in which young men have been either accused of the crime or victims.
Mr Key said today: "The habit of the Clark Government is always to shy away from these problems. They prefer to poke their noses into the lives of good parents while ignoring the ticking time bombs right in front of them. That's not my approach."
He said it is not fair that law-abiding people pay for life-long criminals.
"Too often, these kids are simply sifted through the youth justice system and into adult courts in what can become a shoddy game of pass-the-parcel," Mr Key said.
He also outlined what he calls the Youth Guarantee which would pay for the education of 16 and 17 year-olds outside of school.
He said this could include polytechnics, wananga and private training establishments but if young people did not opt into the education programs then they could not access a benefit.
"We don't think that simply raising the school leaving age is good enough. We know there are plenty of 16- and 17-year-olds who have jobs and are learning from them. We also think there are some kids who might be more motivated and who might achieve more if they could learn in a non-school setting," Mr Key said.
Setting out his policy agenda at the start of election year, he also attacked the Government's handling of the economy.
He said: "Despite inheriting the tail wind of a strong global economy, Helen Clark has failed to use that momentum to make significant improvement in areas of real importance to New Zealanders.
"She has squandered your economic inheritance by failing to build stronger foundations for the future."
Helen Clark makes her state of the nation address tomorrow morning.
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30 January 2008 at 9:29 am Thanks for posting this Redpill.
John Key is clearly working for those who want to bring in a New World Order. These are evil greedy people who think democracy is too good for us.
Watch Endgame and Terrorstorm, which are available at Google Video free to see the truth.
Plus, a good e-book to read to get an understanding about what is happening in NZ and overseas is 'The Police State Road Map' at www.policestateplanning.com.
31 January 2008 at 12:50 pm I had to laugh at this...
Annette King is deluded to blame the sun and the moon for the spate of crime in New Zealand over the past month, National's law and order spokesman said today.
Speaking at the National Party's three-day caucus retreat in Rotorua, Simon Power said Labour was clearly "in denial" over youth crime after the Herald today reported Annette King as blaming the recent full moon and long, hot summer for the crime spree which has resulted in ten homicides over January.
Ms King said the hot summer and recent full moon were well-documented as factors in the escalation of violence, as well as family and financial stresses of the Christmas period.
3 February 2008 at 5:53 pm Redpill I too couldn't believe my ears when Annette King made that statement...perhaps she herself was suffering from a little sunstroke? Blaming the sun and the moon has to go down in history as one of the most foolish statements ever issued by a NZ politician...are Labour getting desperate or what...