Charging covincts $50
John Key seems to have an idea which may be able to help the cause of victims of crime. Thats right...charge them $50 as a crime tax.
This is taken from the National Party's website.
"Establish a Victim Compensation Scheme (VCS), which will be funded by a levy on all offenders at sentencing. It is envisaged the levy be $50. The scheme will help victims with one-off expenses not covered by ACC or other state help, such as travel to court and additional counselling".
I wonder how they are going to enforce this and how much its going to cost to enforce? In reality, what is $50 going to do? $50 for example would be if I lived in Hamilton and I was attending a court hearing in Rotorua. Thats bearly a return trip. Addtional counselling? Average counsellors bill is $100 for an hour. Hang on, there is one problem. How will you get it off the crim in the first place.
What I am imagining though is a bureaucratic nightmare for victims. Forms after forms, and then I'm sure, some kind of test to determine how much one gets from the pool of $50. I don't know, this sounds like something Mr Key dreamt up in the early hours.
I've read the whole policy and I find many aspects of it which will simply not work because of the hyper PC world we live in. In some form, I think the civil liberties groups may think that the convicted people may be being picked on too much by the government and their rights a little oppressed. Blah blah.
There is no doubt in my mind that victims in many cases do not get the compensation that is due to them. As mentioned in Breakfast on April 1st that a person who had been awarded $10,000 in compensation and as yet, got $200. But I wonder how the heck it was supposed to be paid? A person in prison, on a benefit likely, how are they going to pay? Maybe as someone suggested, IRD should do it, but then again, IRD do child support and they've managed to stuff that up something chronic.
There is a lot of work regarding this policy to be done still. A lot of people will likely think good idea, but would be doubtful as to how it will work in the real world. As I am!
This is taken from the National Party's website.
"Establish a Victim Compensation Scheme (VCS), which will be funded by a levy on all offenders at sentencing. It is envisaged the levy be $50. The scheme will help victims with one-off expenses not covered by ACC or other state help, such as travel to court and additional counselling".
I wonder how they are going to enforce this and how much its going to cost to enforce? In reality, what is $50 going to do? $50 for example would be if I lived in Hamilton and I was attending a court hearing in Rotorua. Thats bearly a return trip. Addtional counselling? Average counsellors bill is $100 for an hour. Hang on, there is one problem. How will you get it off the crim in the first place.
What I am imagining though is a bureaucratic nightmare for victims. Forms after forms, and then I'm sure, some kind of test to determine how much one gets from the pool of $50. I don't know, this sounds like something Mr Key dreamt up in the early hours.
I've read the whole policy and I find many aspects of it which will simply not work because of the hyper PC world we live in. In some form, I think the civil liberties groups may think that the convicted people may be being picked on too much by the government and their rights a little oppressed. Blah blah.
There is no doubt in my mind that victims in many cases do not get the compensation that is due to them. As mentioned in Breakfast on April 1st that a person who had been awarded $10,000 in compensation and as yet, got $200. But I wonder how the heck it was supposed to be paid? A person in prison, on a benefit likely, how are they going to pay? Maybe as someone suggested, IRD should do it, but then again, IRD do child support and they've managed to stuff that up something chronic.
There is a lot of work regarding this policy to be done still. A lot of people will likely think good idea, but would be doubtful as to how it will work in the real world. As I am!
posted by Wiremu Bayliss at
8:29 am
1 Comments:
Slap a court order on their prison income (yep they get paid from $2 a week up, depending on their assigned job))or their benefit or their pay packet.
The money will then be paid by the prison, WINZ or their employer directly to the relevant govt dept.
Patu
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