National Party leader Simon Bridges has quickly taken advantage of the Government's embarrassing policy backdown today in failing to bring its Three Strikes Law repeal before Cabinet as planned.
Mr Bridges quickly released a statement chiding the lack of leadership within the Government, as NZ First's refusal to support the repeal means it will not get up in its current form.
Justice Minister Andrew Little fronted media today about the blow to Labour’s law and order reform. (Source: Other)
"Just days after defiantly promising to repeal the Three Strikes law, Justice Minister Andrew Little has been hauled into line and revealed to have been making promises he simply hadn't done the work to be able to keep," Mr Bridges said.
"Now the Coalition parties have been found to not even be talking to each other and Andrew Little's comments about Three Strikes have been shown to be ill-advised bluster.
"These are incredibly serious matters but this is amateur hour stuff from a Government quickly proving its incompetence."
This morning, Justice Minister Andrew Little said he acknowledged "New Zealand First has concerns about the Three Strikes repeal" and they did not want to the see the repeal be considered separate from a "broader programme of criminal justice reform".
The Three Strike law means once an offender has had their third "strike" or sentenced for their third crime, the maximum sentence is handed down, unless it is considered unjust.
When asked if he had "forged ahead" without checking he had support in a repeal of the law, Mr Little said: "You don't get to the point of having a paper before Cabinet without going through a variety of hoops before then."
He did not think there would be any other issues with NZ First and Green Party support in the proposed justice reforms and that the package "would be ready to go" for next year.
"This is about making good decisions, not fast decisions," he said.
However, Mr Bridges cast the Three Stirkes Law backdown amid the backdrop of last week's revelation that no Cabinet paper was created, or voted on by Cabinet, in the Government's decision to stop offshore oil exploration.
"And what is genuinely concerning is the embarrassing back down comes a week after it was confirmed the Government hadn’t even bothered to seek advice or follow due process before axing oil and gas exploration," Mr Bridges said.
"It's policy on the hoof and shows why Labour is so reluctant to make decisions and is instead sending everything to working groups – 122 and counting.
"When they do try and make a decision they make a mess instead."
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