Petition to Parliament – 39,000 strong petition to be presented to Parliament in memory of Constable Hunt

Source: Dia Hunt

Diane Hunt, mother of deceased policeman Constable Matthew Hunt, will present a petition to Members of Parliament seeking sentencing and parole law reform.

Date:        Wednesday 2 December
Time:       11:15am
Where:     Parliamentary Forecourt, Wellington
What:       Diane Hunt, mother of deceased policeman Constable Matthew Hunt, will present a petition to Members of Parliament seeking sentencing and parole law reform.

Background:

28 year old Constable Matthew Hunt was shot and died while carrying out a routine traffic stop in West Auckland in June. He had been a police officer for only two and half years.

On 30 July, on what would have been Constable Hunt’s 29th birthday, Diane Hunt launched a petition in honour of her son and the 32 other New Zealand Police officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

The petition calls for the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002 to be amended so individuals convicted of murdering a police officer receive a mandatory life sentence and have their parole eligibility automatically declined. Between its launch and close, 39,286 New Zealanders signed the petition.

The Hunt family commissioned a taonga in honour of the 33 police officers who have been killed in the line of duty. This will be handed over to Members of Parliament as part of the petition presentation. The petition will be formally received by Hon Mark Mitchell MP, alongside Minister of Police, Hon Poto Williams.