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 to reduce remand prisoner numbers
- Decriminalise drug possession (but not supply) and move to a health-led response
- Expand prison programmes addressing family violence trauma
- Raise the youth court age to 25, in line with developmental science
- Expand drug and mental health court pilot programmes
- Invest earlier in children to prevent the experiences that lead to later offending
Who this affects
People charged with drug possession
Under this policy, personal drug possession would no longer be treated as a criminal matter but instead directed toward health services.
Remand prisoners
More funding for courts and probation is intended to reduce the number of people held in prison while awaiting trial or sentencing.
Young people aged 18–24
Raising the youth court jurisdiction to 25 would mean this age group is handled through the youth justice system rather than the adult criminal courts.
Prisoners with family violence backgrounds
Expanded in-prison programmes would give these individuals access to support for processing past family violence experiences.
Taxpayers
The party frames the current prison system as costing more than $150,000 per prisoner per year and says shifting toward rehabilitation aims to reduce that overall cost.
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.”
“In a justice system that's 'smart on crime', we'll invest in solutions that are proven to actually reduce crime rates, not just punish people.”
“De-criminalise drug possession (but not supply) and shift to a health-led response to drug issues.”
Summarised neutrally from The Opportunities Party’s own official policy (as at 2026-06-26) and checked by an editor — never paraphrased without the source linked, and never an endorsement. 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.
| Party | Economy | Housing | Health | Education | Climate | Environment | Crime & Justice | Treaty & Māori Affairs | Immigration | Foreign Policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | ||||||||||
| Labour | ||||||||||
| Green | ||||||||||
| ACT | ||||||||||
| NZ First | ||||||||||
| Te Pāti Māori | ||||||||||
| TOP |
Published position∅ No stated position (verified) Not captured yet