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For an embattled leader fighting for political survival, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins\u2019 law-and-order week could not have gone worse.<\/p>\n
It was late July and the Labour leader, responding to criticisms his government had failed to take crime seriously, rolled out an election law-and-order package focused on \u201cprevention, protection and accountability\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Ambulance and police vehicles in downtown Auckland amid reports of a shooting in July.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Stuff<\/cite><\/p>\n The timing could not have been worse. First, a fatal shooting in Auckland\u2019s CBD at the hands of a 24-year-old man on home detention with an electronic monitoring bracelet. Three days later, the country\u2019s justice minister was arrested for allegedly drink-driving and crashing her car in Wellington. Any political posturing was quickly drowned out.<\/p>\n \u201cTo begin with a shooting and then for the minister of justice to get arrested, that was like election campaigning by the scream emoji. It was awful and really bad luck for Chris Hipkins,\u201d said political commentator and one-time Labour candidate Josie Pagani.<\/p>\n Crime has taken centre stage in the campaign for the October 14 general election. Cost of living and inflation are tracking as the key issues for voters, but crime has emerged as a prominent concern after a surge in robberies and vehicle ram raids.<\/p>\n A ram raid burglary at the Liquor Centre in Greenhithe, Auckland. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>New Zealand Herald\/Hayden Woodward <\/cite><\/p>\n Last week, a band of teenagers allegedly careered a car into a suburban milk bar near Hastings in the North Island, before fleeing on foot with hardly the haul of a legendary heist: chocolates, toilet paper and chewing gum.<\/p>\n The alleged smash-and-grab is among hundreds this year across New Zealand, where vehicle ram raids have become the crime du jour of young groups, clocking 388 \u2013 or an average of at least two a day \u2013 in the six months to June.<\/p>\n Retail stores, milk bars and petrol stations have all been victims to ram raids, which are often filmed by perpetrators and posted online. The trend has stoked concerns about copy-cat offending and crime glorification, leaving shop owners fearful of staffing their stores.<\/p>\n When Hipkins announced his sweeping package to tackle youth offending in July, opposition parties accused him of belatedly attempting to appear tough on crime and overlooking the needs of vulnerable young people.<\/p>\n Pagani said that for too long the government\u2019s response was to downplay concerns and cite statistics showing a broad decline in crime, leaving the opposition National Party to present itself as the alternative government that would act.<\/p>\n The Hipkins government made a new criminal offence for ram raids punishable by up to 10 years in jail that would also be applicable to children aged 12 and 13.<\/p>\n Authorities are able to take bodily samples from children for DNA testing if required.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem for the government, going back to when Jacinda [Ardern] was still leader, is that they were slow to pick up on that … by not realising that the fear was real, and people\u2019s concern was real,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n An under-pressure Ardern in November last year committed $500 million to manage ram raids and burglary then, insisting that her government was not soft on crime. Ardern resigned in January.<\/p>\n In May, the Hipkins government rolled out a subsidy scheme to supply shop owners with fog cannons, which fill a room with fog to block an intruder\u2019s vision. <\/p>\n All six parties most likely to contend for parliament \u2013 Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party on the left; and National, ACT, and New Zealand First on the right \u2013 have released policies promising to address youth issues and crime.<\/p>\n Credit: <\/span>Youth Justice Indicators Summary Report April 2023<\/cite><\/p>\n Criminologists and youth experts suggest the \u201ctough on crime\u201d approach reflects a predictable political rhetoric in a conservative cultural climate that has Hipkins floundering.<\/p>\n Despite a spike in reported ram raid incidents since 2020, recorded youth crime overall has, in fact, been falling since 2007. That year more than 5000 people aged 10 to 16 faced charges, while less than 1000 did last year, analysis by the New Zealand Herald<\/em> showed last month.<\/p>\n A 6 per cent uptick was, however, recorded in the number of young people charged in 2022 compared to 2021, mainly due to thefts.<\/p>\n University of Auckland criminologist Ronald Kramer said whatever was happening with crime was incidental to how it surfaced in political campaigns.<\/p>\n \u201cThere definitely is a feeling that these policies are about electioneering rather than responding to what\u2019s going on in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese figures reflect institutional practices in many respects, and we are selective with what figures we use and worry about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSerious fraud crime has also increased … but I don\u2019t hear many politicians talking about that. And, I don\u2019t see any proposals concerning that problem. [Talking] tough on crime has become standard, predictable rhetoric.\u201d <\/p>\n Less than two weeks from election day the Hipkins Labour government is on track to lose power to Chris Luxon\u2019s National Party, which has pledged to govern with minor party New Zealand First to reach a majority, if necessary.<\/p>\n Under the country\u2019s mixed-member proportional system (MMP) citizens get two votes: a party vote and an electorate vote for a candidate in their area. Parties must either win one of the 72 electorate seats or hit 5 per cent of the nationwide party vote to enter parliament.<\/p>\n Both major parties will likely need the support of at least one minor party to form a majority.<\/p>\n In August, the Hipkins government rushed through an urgent bill making a new criminal offence for ram raids punishable by up to 10 years in jail that would also be applicable to children aged 12 and 13.<\/p>\n Under the bill, authorities are permitted to take bodily samples from children for DNA testing if required. Filming and publishing a ram raid online will also be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing.<\/p>\n The laws have attracted widespread criticism from advocates and experts as a knee-jerk reaction that risks violating children\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see how it makes any sense,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cRam raids involve a range of offences already covered by law. I\u2019m not sure they help any party purporting to be left-leaning.\u201d<\/p>\n Luxon, whose National supported the ram raid bill, has campaigned heavily on crime since last year. His election promises include a new young serious offender sentencing category, military boot camps for those aged 15 to 17 and new laws targeting gangs.<\/p>\n Jayden Evett, a PhD candidate in New Zealand studies at ANU\u2019s Department of Pacific Affairs, said \u201cpulling out the law-and-order card is a bit of a playbook\u201d for conservative oppositions trying to claw back government.<\/p>\n Amid relentless media coverage of ram raids, Evett countered that fears about youth crime could have been overblown in the campaign, with recent polls showing cost of living as the No.1 concern among almost half of all voters.<\/p>\n For Auckland youth advocate Aaron Hendry, who works with some of the nation\u2019s most vulnerable young people, it\u2019s little wonder crime has become a major issue amid economic hardship and a homelessness crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunities that are desperate and don\u2019t have the right support and love and care around them are getting pulled into behaviours which are harmful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While he acknowledged some positive initiatives from the Labour government in addressing youth issues, he said measures like the new ram raid bill were punitive and potentially harmful.<\/p>\n \u201cThere definitely is a feeling that these policies are very much around electioneering rather than adequately responding to what\u2019s going on in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Get a note directly from our foreign <\/i><\/b>correspondents <\/i><\/b>on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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