Live: Christopher Luxon promises to stop judges discounting criminal sentences by more than 40%

National Party leader Christopher Luxon says if elected his party will clamp down on judges giving discounts of more than 40% on criminal sentences.

Luxon announced National’s latest law and order policy in a speech to close his party’s election-year conference, held at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington on Sunday. Luxon will hold a press conference about the policy at 12.45pm that will be livestreamed above.

“New Zealand sets no limits on how much a judge can reduce sentences. That means they often end up far lower than victims and the public expect, and far lower than is required to acknowledge the harm and suffering that’s been caused,” he said.

”National will restore real consequences for crime with stronger sentences for convicted criminals.”

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Luxon gave the example of Tyreece Kohe-Davis, a convicted criminal he did not name in the speech, who was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for seven charges related to breaking into a pregnant woman’s house, assaulting and robbing her, before moving on to assault and kidnap two men elsewhere.

His sentence had a 50% reduction for youth, guilty plea, and other factors. But under appeal a High Court judge reduced his sentence by a further 10 months when Kohe-Davis argued a cultural report needed to be further considered.

Luxon said cultural reports had ballooned into a “cottage industry that’s lowering sentences and taxpayers are footing the bill”. He promised his party would divert $20 million in funding that goes to cultural report, an aspect of sentencing that sometimes has judges reduce sentences, Luxon said.

The party would also boost rehabilitation in prison, offering programmes to prisoners who are on remand and awaiting sentencing.

“With nearly one in two prisoners on remand, that means a significant proportion of prisoners are missing out on the opportunity for proper rehabilitation, or are starting it too late,” he said.

The law and order policy announcement came a week after Luxon promised to make gang membership an aggravating factor on all criminal sentences, regardless if organised crime was a feature of the offence.

National has been targeting concern about crime at a time when ram-raids and retail crime has spiked, and after a gang tangi in Ōpōtiki had a school decide to close, sparking headlines about gangs causing disruption.

Throughout the conference in Wellington, attended by hundreds of supporters, Luxon and senior MPs have sought to cast the election as a do-or-die moment for the country, where voters can choose between “aspiration” provided by National or a gloomy economic future.

On Sunday morning, the party’s campaign chair, senior MP Chris Bishop, launched the day’s events with a speech hitting the central themes of the conference: National’s promise of a “strong economic management” during recessionary times, and “out of control crime”.

“Our future is being ram-raided, so with a strong economy we can restore law and order, back the police, tackle gangs, and make sure youth offenders face consequences for their actions.

“This election is about more than just public policy. It’s actually about what we stand for as a country. Do we stand for hope and aspiration, or for a poverty of ambition, in which mediocrity is not just tolerated but actively encouraged?

“This is a fight for nothing less than the future of our great country.”

Bishop said the party’s “opponents” would throw everything at National for an expected close election, and he urged members to “fight hard for every vote”.

“I want everyone in New Zealand to know that only a party vote for National will deliver a strong National Government that New Zealand needs after October 14.”

National Party president Sylvia Wood was the first in the party to attack Labour at the weekend conference, telling party members she could “barely recognise” New Zealand after six-years of a Labour Government.

She said it would only get worse under a more-left Labour-Green-Te Pāti Māori coalition – a possible coalition arrangement that could form Government after the election, according to some recent polling.

“The good news is we have a chance to stop this,” Wood said.

Luxon on Saturday told the party a “strong National Government” was needed to get the country’s “mojo” back. Party members were given a goal: getting New Zealand “back on track” by obtaining 45% of the party vote at the coming election, on October 14.

“We have come so, so far. You know, just 18 months ago, we didn’t have much money, we weren’t given much change by the polls or the media. But we are now so, so close.”

National has been polling at about 35% in polling so far this year. The party has struggled to break away from Labour in the polls, as its expected coalition partner, the ACT party, polls above 10%.