Dairy owners shouldn’t expect ‘a thug coming in with a baseball bat’ – Nats say loosening of bail laws could see more criminals on streets

March 19, 2018

Simon Bridges says the governemnt's "soft" stance on crime won't help stop dairy robberies.

A strong stance on crime is needed to combat violent dairy robberies, says National leader Simon Bridges, with a possible loosening of bail laws having the potential of "putting criminals on the street". 

"We've just got to keep the focus on this," Mr Bridges said on TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning. "It's police resourcing and also about good strong law and order policy."

National gave $1.8 million to help dairy owners better protect themselves, but they say it's not enough. 

Mr Bridges said the government's plan to reduce the prison population was "fine and dandy", but it needed to be coupled with good plans to reduce offending.

"If you don't have that, you're simply putting criminals on the street and you will see more burglaries and robberies and serious violence.

"At the moment, you have a situation where we tightened the bail, sentencing and parole laws. I know this government is actively looking at reducing that. Now call me old-fashioned but I think that's soft on crime."

He said dairy owners should be able to sell cigarettes "without expecting a thug coming in with a baseball bat".

"It is about deterrence, having good policy, so if they're caught, they do the time."

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