Labour is dismissing as arrogant the National Party's plan to scrap the planned Sentencing Council and the Criminal Justice Advisory Board.
National says it would redirect money allocated to the two organisations to its proposed Victims Compensation Scheme.
However, Justice Minister Annette King says the Advisory Board was established to provide advice, because that is needed by government. She says the aim of the proposed Sentencing Council is to get consistency of sentencing throughout the country.
Ms King says National's announcement is a hoax, because she doubts people would get as much as $20 in compensation out of the party's proposed scheme.
National's plan
On Saturday, National's justice spokesperson Simon Power said the party would introduce a Victim Compensation Scheme to cover expenses faced by victims, such as travelling to parole hearings and counselling.
Mr Power said it would be funded by a flat levy on all convicted offenders and supplemented by compensation payments received by prisoners.
He told delegates at the National Party's annual conference in Wellington that the planned Sentencing Council is just another layer of bureaucracy, and its $5.8 million of funding, as well as $500,000 million for the Criminal Justice Advisory Board, will go to victims of crime.
The Government last year announced plans for a 10-member sentencing council, to include members of the judiciary, which would help set guidelines for judges on setting sentences.
Victim Support
Victim Support is giving a cautious welcome to National Party plans. Acting chief executive Heather Verry says she would rather see the money being used on the planned sentencing council go towards helping victims of crime.
However, she says she would also like to see some guidelines on sentencing.
