A penal reform group wants people to trust the existing laws to protect communities when sex offenders are released from prison.
Judith Collins says Corrections is bound by the courts when it comes to placing released sex offenders in accommodation, and can't relocate a former prisoner who neighbours are objecting to in the Auckland suburb of Mangere.
Lady Heeni Phillips-Williams of the Sir Peter Williams Penal Reform group says the courts are well-informed when they make decisions around relocation.
"People are getting whipped into this fervour about 'y'know, you've got to be careful', et cetera et cetera, and politicians have just got to calm down and take a responsible approach to this - the laws are already in place," she says.
To be placed in residences purpose-built for sex offenders, former prisoners need public protection orders from the courts.
Labour MP Su'a William Sio says the Government is turning a blind eye to the public's wishes.
"The criteria that they have undertaken seems to say that it is okay for Corrections to place a high-risk offender who is of high risk of reoffending next to a school full of young children."
The Government has said it wants to build more purpose-built facilities to house sex offenders.
Newshub.
