‘NO BODY, NO PAROLE’
MP fights to put victims at ‘heart’ of justice system
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford wants to see convicted murderers ineligible for parole if they do not reveal the location of their victim’s body.
Rutherford has lodged a Members’ Bill that he said would acknowledge the anguish faced by families who did not have a chance to lay their loved ones to rest.
It came after former National MP Tim Macindoe lodged a “no body no parole” Bill in 2020 but it was not drawn.
However, the Criminal Bar Association says “no body” is already a factor the Parole Board can consider before granting someone release and a blanket law change would “likely lead to miscarriages of justice”.
In the high-profile Sydney case of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, Assistant Commissioner Fitzgerald claimed that NSW’S new “no body, no parole” laws could have been a factor in alleged killer Beau Lamarre-condon’s decision to co-operate with police.
Not disclosing the body an ‘aggravating’ factor
Rutherford told the Bay of Plenty Times: “I’m really pleased to be able to pick it up and get it back into the Members’ Bills Ballot”.
Rutherford believed the Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill would be popular for many Kiwis.
“There are families who do not have a chance to lay their loved ones to rest, because of an offender’s refusal to disclose the location of a victim’s remains.”
Rutherford said the Bill would require the Parole Board to take into account a prisoner’s refusal to reveal the location of their victim’s body when considering whether they should be released.
In a March 27 statement, Rutherford said the Bill would also require the sentencing court to include it as an “aggravating” factor.
Rutherford said the Bill had been
ower speed limits are coming for Western Bay town centres, with limits outside rural schools also set to change. Waihi Beach, Omokoroa ¯ and Te Puke town centres will have 40km/ h limits, unless the current speed is already lower. However, the new limits won’t come into effect for at least 18 months.
State Highway 2 runs through Katikati’s centre, so this limit is governed by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and therefore not part of the review.
The new speed management plan was adopted by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council at a meeting on Thursday.
During the meeting, the council debated whether to lower the speed limit to 60km/h or 80km/h outside rural schools. The change would apply outside the variable 30km/h limit during peak hours, and wouldn’t apply to areas with current lower limits.
Western Bay of Plenty District councillor Don Thwaites said he favoured 60km/h as many activities took place outside traditional school hours of 8.30am to 4.30pm.
“The reality is, police are not going to go up there and police this.”
It was up to local residents to follow the speed limits, Thwaites said.
“If the replacement of 60km/h sign means that they might just consider slowing down a little bit past the school . . . I think it’s a good thing.”
Councillor Margaret Murraybenge agreed, saying rural schools are entitled to as much safety as urban schools.
Maketu¯ -Te Puke councillor Andy Wichers said the 80km/h limit “would be more appropriate” for rural schools.
However, councillor Rodney Joyce said he was concerned by the debate about putting in a 60km/h limit, but not expecting people to follow it.
“The police won’t police it, we don’t expect to follow it, so let’s just do it anyway. I don’t think that’s good governance.
“We shouldn’t be encouraging people to break the law, basically by saying we’ll put this speed limit in place, but actually it doesn’t really matter.”
Joyce was in favour of a case-bycase basis for schools. “People won’t follow 60km/h outside rural schools.”
However, Thwaites said this was “complete nonsense”.
“We’re not encouraging people to break the law at all. We’re appealing to their common sense.”
He said he was pointing out that from a “sheer practical point of view” police can’t be everywhere.
“We’re actually appealing to the vast majority of sensible people to just slow down.”
Deputy mayor John Scrimgeour, who favoured the 60km/h limit, gave the example of Te Ranga School in Te Puke that had issues with speeding.
“Since there has been some greater signage up in that area, there has been considerably less concern about the speed of traffic moving past the school.”
The 80km/h limit outside rural schools was adopted by a split vote of six to four.
Mayor James Denyer said the council had “landed in a good place” with the plan.
“We’ve done the best we can in a changing environment from central government. I think we’ve been nimble enough to adapt to those.”
Speed management plans were no longer a mandatory requirement under the new government, but a plan could still be developed to guide the speed limit approach. Consultation on the speed management plan was held in October and November last year, with 197 submissions received.
Director of Transportation Calum Mclean told Local Democracy Reporting the limits would be in place within 18 to 24 months.
The plan required the council to further engage with tangata whenua and order the variable speed limit signs. The council also needed to develop
We’re not encouraging people to break the law at all. We’re appealing to their common sense.
Western Bay of Plenty District councillor Don Thwaites
an implementation programme and find a contractor for the work.
The speed limit changes needed to align with amendments to the National Speed Limit Register to ensure the new limits could be legally enforced, said Mclean. The community would be advised of changes as they occurred.
LDR is local body journalism cofunded by RNZ and NZ On Air.