SUE BRADFORD (Green) : I am taking the opportunity to speak briefly in the debate tonight because I am aware, as several speakers have already pointed out, that I am one of a select number of MPs who are personally affected by the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act, which resulted from my colleague Nandor Tanczos’ member’s bill. I have had to bite my tongue a few times during this debate, as, in fact, I am one of an even more select few in the House who has no desire to wipe any of my convictions from the public record. My criminal record started when I had just left school and was taking part in anti - Vietnam War demonstrations in Auckland, and there is no question that it hampered my career options earlier on, and later adversely affected applications for bail and sentencing outcomes in court. However, and at the same time, I have never resiled from what my convictions stood for in my personal and political life, whether they arose from the anti-war demos in the 1960s, the 1981 Springbok tour mobilisation, nuclear-free and women’s liberation campaigns, or later on from actions taken with the unemployed workers movement. I have no desire to be clean-slated, and I am just as proud of my convictions as I am of the other parts of my CV, like university degrees or job histories.

However, I am all too aware that for the vast majority of people with even minor criminal convictions, even one conviction can have a destructive and devastating effect on the rest of one’s life. Having worked in the unemployed and beneficiaries movement for 16 years, I am acutely conscious that people’s job prospects are instantly and negatively impacted, in most cases, if they do tell the truth or if their employer finds out about their past. Things like broken relationships, addictions and other mental health problems, and a general lack of self-confidence can also be a consequence in a long negative spiral.

So while I am grateful that the Government Act resulting from Nandor Tanczos’ bill will allow me to leave my convictions on the record and to release them to friends, the media, the courts, or employers if I so choose, at the same time I am even more delighted that many thousands of other people will, in the future, be able to lead happier and more fulfilling lives as a result of clean-slating.

To finish, I congratulate my colleague Nandor Tanczos on the outcome of all the work he put in on his original bill, and on achieving a significant change to the law with the help of the Government. I believe his member’s bill basically forced the Government into following up on an issue that various Governments have ducked for years. It is a fantastic achievement. The only pity was that the Minister was not prepared to work to improve Nandor Tanczos’ bill, rather than starting from scratch with a new one. Be that as it may, the main thing is that the objective of clean slate legislation has been realised, although many, many years later than it should have been.

It is also a highlight that this is the fourth Green Party member’s bill that has been passed into law or that has led to the Government adopting the same or similar provisions within its own legislation. Previously, Jeanette Fitzsimons’ Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act was passed in its own right, Rod Donald’s Local Elections (Single Transferable Vote Option) Bill was incorporated into the Government’s recent local government legislation, and Jeanette Fitzsimons’ Road Traffic Reduction Bill became part of the Land Transport Management Act. It is just a pity that a few other bills, like my own universal child benefit bill, which is coming up very shortly, and Ian Ewen-Street’s bill to reinstate a moratorium on genetically modified organisms, do not appear likely to meet with quite the same success. But I must not detract from what has been accomplished here. Once again, I congratulate both Nandor Tanczos and the Labour Government on their commitment to ensuring that many people who have minor criminal convictions in their past will now get a second chance at life.