Andrew Little gets questioned by the Justice Select Committee over his role as Justice Minister and the public's confidence in him.

NZ First is expected to make it clear it won't support a three strikes repeal being considered as part of any wider justice reform after caucus meets on Tuesday.

Justice Minister Andrew Little was forced to backtrack on the proposed repeal that he was planning to take to Cabinet on Monday after NZ First indicated it wouldn't support it.

In a press conference on Monday morning Little tried to leave the door open on three strikes being repealed in the future, saying NZ First didn't support a "piecemeal" approach and wanted to see the total justice reform package.

HENRY COOKE/STUFF Andrew Little after his three strikes repeal bill was forced to be dropped.

However, it's understood NZ First MPs have been working on this issue for weeks. The caucus has no plans to budge on its long-held view of being tough on law and order after seeking feedback from its voter base.

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That position is expected to be made clear after caucus meets at Parliament on Tuesday.

STUFF Justice Minister Andrew Little talks about the backdown on the three strikes law in June 2018. (Video first published on June 11, 2018.)

The planned repeal was supposed to be the first in a raft of widespread law and order reforms, in an effort to overhaul the criminal justice system and reduce the prison population.

But Labour had failed to get past the first hurdle, in what National Party leader Simon Bridges calls "an embarrassing backdown".



NZ First leader Winston Peters said the party would reveal its long-term position on three-strikes following its caucus meeting on Tuesday.

"The caucus looks forward to working with him on achieving a balanced reform package," Peters said.

HAGEN HOPKINS/GETTY IMAGES Winston Peters will meet with the NZ First caucus on Tuesday and it's understood following that the party will make it clear it won't support a repeal of three strikes now, or in the future.

NZ First said it did not support Little's initial proposal to repeal the law as part of a modest package of changes to the criminal justice system, which were due to go to Cabinet for consideration on Monday.

But Peters was yet to say whether the party would back a repeal further down the line, when Little put forward widespread proposed reforms following the establishment of an advisory group, and a summit later in the year.

'JUSTICE SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING'

Little said he acknowledged NZ First had concerns about the repeal.

"The strength of this coalition is that change only occurs with the support of all three parties," he said.

"We are committed to a meaningful and balanced programme of change and we will be consulting our coalition partners and the public on this over the coming months.

"The reality is that the justice system is not working and we need to make changes to make our communities safer."

Little said NZ First was "totally committed" to criminal justice reform.

"There is a failure in the system we have to address."

Rather than taking a "piecemeal approach" to reforms, NZ First wanted to see a "full, well-rounded package" of changes to go to Cabinet in one go, he said.

Last week, it became clear there would not be enough support to get the repeal across the line, so Little pulled his proposal for the initial small package of changes - including the three strikes repeal.

He spoke to the prime minister on Friday, and Peters on Monday morning, ahead of his announcement on withdrawing the proposal.

STUFF Justice Minister Andrew Little speaks about the three strikes reform.

A full package of proposed reforms would happen after the independent advisory panel had been appointed, and the criminal justice summit in August. The new plans would likely be announced early next year.

Little said he would not be deterred by the National Party's accusations the Government was being "soft on crime".

While he expected this to "taint" the public debate, that would not stop him from putting in place measures he believed would lower offending and victimisation rates.

At a Justice Select Committee hearing on Monday evening, he said the "more serious offenders aren't the targets of this Government's criminal justice reforms".

"For serious offenders, prisons are the place for them, and we will always have prisons for that reason....

"Those younger people at the early stages of their offending... they're the ones I'm confident that if we put the resources into the, we can move them through the prison system a lot quicker; we can stop them reoffending, and reduce crime as a result.," Little said.

HENRY COOKE/STUFF Less than a fortnight ago, Little said all the coalition partners were on the same page.

'POLICY ON THE HOOF'

National's Bridges said the decision to pull the proposed repeal "underlined the cracks in the coalition and shown just how little thought is going into decisions which directly affect the lives of New Zealanders".

Little had not done the work needed to be able to keep the promise he'd made on three strikes, Bridges said.

He referred to this as "policy on the hoof", saying Labour had made a mess of the situation.

"These are incredibly serious matters but this is amateur hour stuff from a Government quickly proving its incompetence. It's an unacceptable way of making decisions which will have a real impact on the lives of New Zealanders – in this case making them less safe.

Little first announced the controversial law would be repealed in November last year.

At the time Little said the law had not reduced crime rates and failed to act as an effective deterrent.

"It's been eight years since this got onto the statute books and it's not making a blind bit of difference. It's time to find something new, something different."

The three strikes policy was introduced in 2010 and dictates repeat violent offenders will not be eligible for parole after their third offence.

An offender would receive a standard sentence and warning for their first serious offence. The second offence would usually lead to a jail term with no parole and a further warning. On conviction for a third serious offence, the offender would receive the maximum penalty in prison for that offence with no parole.

Forty offences – including murder, manslaughter, sexual violation, abduction, kidnapping and aggravated robbery – count as a strike under the law, pursued by the Act Party in 2010.

So far, no courts had used the full power of the law, to sentence offenders on their third strike to the maximum sentence without the chance of parole.

The National Party had campaigned strongly against the proposed repeal, and during the past few weeks called on NZ First not to support it.

The party has been using law and order issues to try and drive a wedge between NZ First, and Labour and the Greens.

Since coming into opposition National has filed a barrage of law and order private member's bills.

It's had one bill calling for harsher penalties to synthetic cannabis suppliers and manufacturers; one bill calling for an end to concurrent sentencing for serious offenders; and another calling for no guns for gangs and an extension to police search and seizure powers.

National's tactic worked for its first bill to come before the House - the psychoactive substances amendment bill passed its first reading, backed by NZ First.

Bridges has been using unlikely occasions to talk about crime, including a visit to his former high school, and a speech to a group of economists.

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