11. MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) Link to this
to the Minister for Courts
What has he done to improve court facilities?
Hon RICK BARKER (Minister for Courts) Link to this
Last month the Minister of Māori Affairs, Parekura Horomia, and I opened the refurbished Tai Rāwhiti Māori Land Court. This is the fifth Māori Land Court to be refurbished, the others being in Christchurch, Wellington, Rotorua, and Hastings. In addition, work is occurring at Hastings, Palmerston North, and Taupō District Courts, work is set to begin at Nelson, Timaru, and Invercargill, the Auckland District Court, and at Whangarei, and, in time, the Manukau and Levin courts are high on the lists. In the past 12 months, I have opened two new courthouses, one in Greymouth and one in Queenstown, as well as the fully refurbished Blenheim court. In response to this member’s constant advocacy, the Hamilton court is also being looked at. It is fair to say the achievements of this Labour-led Government have eclipsed any of the previous Government’s in this area.
What other improvements are being made, and has he seen any reports outlining alternative approaches to managing our courts?
As well as a huge programme of investment in restoring our courthouses after a decade of neglect and cutbacks in real money terms under National, the Labour-led Government is making huge strides in all-round performance improvement. I recently announced that e-filing is under way, with savings of over 2,000 reams of paper a year, demonstrating Labour’s commitment to introducing sustainable business practice. As well, there is videoconferencing, digital audio recording, Pay or Stay, improvements in the infringement system, the service improvement programme, more judges, more courtrooms, better facilities, and better information technology infrastructure, and the list goes on. Labour has a policy programme and we are delivering on it. However, I have seen reports showing that National still has no idea. It is waiting with no policy, except mutterings from National’s Simon Power calling for greater investment in the system, while Kate Wilkinson says there should be no more investment as it will not do anything. We are left with one conclusion: National still has not got a clue and will end up saying that whatever Labour says is right, because Labour has got the ideas.
Kate WilkinsonDoes the Minister’s failure to answer my written question No. 13961, which was lodged over 2 months ago and sought updated waiting times for courts, mean that he is embarrassed because the figures are worse than the previous averages of 290 days for the High Court and 256 days for the District Court; or can he not say when I will get an answer because, as he has stated: “Predictions are always difficult, particularly when they are about the future.”?
I will take time to track down question No. 13961, but I can tell the member that there is a very good story to be told about our court system. In the Auckland High Court, jury trial disposals have improved by 10 percent—that is a 10 percent improvement in efficiency. In the District Court, jury trial disposals have improved by 8 percent, and, in the Auckland District Court, by 13 percent. Criminal summary disposals have increased by 8 percent. These are exceptionally good figures.