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All parties on Crime & Justice
Crime & Justice · Party position

TOP on Crime & Justice

Reduce reoffending through rehabilitation and early prevention

The Opportunities Party wants to spend money on things proven to lower crime rather than just locking people up. They would fund courts and probation to cut the number of people held on remand, treat drug use as a health issue rather than a crime, help prisoners deal with family violence trauma, raise the youth court age to 25, and expand drug and mental health court programmes.

What they say they'll do

  • Increase funding for courts and probation services to reduce remand prisoner numbers
  • De-criminalise drug possession (but not supply) and shift to a health-led response to drug issues
  • Expand programmes that help prisoners process the harm of family violence in their past
  • Raise the age of the youth court jurisdiction, in line with developmental science
  • Expand drug and mental health court pilot programmes
  • Invest earlier in people to prevent traumatic childhood experiences that increase the likelihood of later offending

Who this affects

People held on remand (awaiting trial in prison)
More funding for courts and probation is intended to reduce how many people are held in prison before their cases are resolved.
People who use drugs
Drug possession would no longer be treated as a criminal matter, with support moved to health services instead.
Young people in the justice system
Raising the age of youth court jurisdiction would mean more young people are dealt with through the youth court rather than the adult system.
People in prison with family violence backgrounds
Expanded in-prison programmes would help prisoners work through experiences of family violence they have been exposed to.

In their own words

“It costs all of us more than $150,000 a year to house a prisoner. For context, we spend about $9,000 educating a child for a year.”
“De-criminalise drug possession (but not supply) and shift to a health-led response to drug issues.”
“The safest thing a prison can do is send someone home who doesn't come back.”
Verify at The Opportunities Party — official policy page

Summarised neutrally from The Opportunities Party’s own official policy (as at 2026-09-07) and checked by an editor. Nothing is paraphrased without the source linked. Read the original ↗ Arapono is non-partisan. Compare all parties on Crime & Justice →

Coverage at a glance

Which party holds a published position on which topic.

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Swipe across to see all 11 topics — the party column stays put.

PartyEconomyHousingHealthEducationClimateEnvironmentCrime & JusticeTreaty & Māori AffairsImmigrationForeign PolicyDemocracy & Government
National
Published position∅ No stated position (verified) Not captured yet
Labour∅∅∅∅∅∅
Green
ACT
NZ First
Te Pāti Māori
TOP
Also contesting, without seats in Parliament
Women’s Rights
Animal Justice
ALCP
Conservative
Outdoors & Freedom
Vision NZ
Alliance
Free Palestine
NZ Loyal∅
Te Tai Tokerau∅