Sensible Sentencing Trust

• Business / Trading Name: Sensible Sentencing Trust (SST). Also associated with the Sensible Sentencing Group Trust (SSGT), a related charitable arm for victims’ support.

• Company Number: Data Not Found. (SST is not registered as a company; it operated as a private trust and advocacy group).

• NZBN: Data Not Found.

• Entity Type: Non-governmental advocacy trust (law-and-order lobby group). SST is an un-registered charitable trust (de-registered as charity in 2010 due to political activities). The affiliated SSGT is a registered charitable trust (focused on victim support).

• Business Classification: Community advocacy and victims’ rights lobbying (justice and penal policy sector).

• Industry Category: Non-profit organisation – Law & Order Policy Advocacy / Victims’ Advocacy.

• Year Founded: 2001. SST was formed in response to a high-profile crime case and public outcry in 2001.

• Addresses: Based in Napier, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand (historical HQ in founder’s home region). Full street address not publicly listed; primary operations have been in Hawke’s Bay with national outreach.

• Website URL: sst.nz (site currently under construction). Also runs campaign microsites (e.g. stop3strikessellout.nz for Three Strikes campaign).

• LinkedIn URL: Data Not Found. (No official LinkedIn page; key individuals like Jess McVicar list SST affiliation on personal LinkedIn profiles).

• Company Hub NZ URL: Data Not Found. (No profile on CompanyHub or similar business directories).

• NZ Companies Office URL: Data Not Found. (Not registered as a company or incorporated society; SST operated outside Companies Office registers due to its trust status and de-registered charity status).

• Social Media URLs: Active on Facebook (facebook.com/sensiblesentencingtrust – ~18,000 followers). No official Twitter handle; campaigns and content are promoted via supporters’ social media and allied groups (e.g. Taxpayers’ Union and The Campaign Group on X/Twitter). SST content and ads have also circulated on Instagram and YouTube via third parties.

• Ultimate Holding Company: None. (Independent trust; not owned by any parent entity).

• Key Shareholders: None. (Not a company with shareholding; governed by trustees and private donors).

• Leadership: Founder: Garth McVicar (led SST from 2001–2018). Current Leadership (2021–present): Co-led by Darroch Ball (former NZ First MP) as of Jan 2021, and Louise Parsons (longtime member, became trustee/spokesperson by 2024). National Spokesperson: Jess McVicar (Garth’s daughter) took over day-to-day public leadership around 2018–2020. Trustees/Board: Includes founding trustees Garth & Anne McVicar, and others like Scott Guthrie (former board member, removed 2018). Past spokespersons include Ruth Money (2012–2014).

• Staff: Largely volunteer-run with a small core team. No large salaried staff roster disclosed. Jess McVicar has described juggling SST work with her day job, indicating minimal full-time staff. The trust’s “youth wing” existed for outreach but overall operations rely on a handful of advocates (e.g. a victims’ advisor team). The affiliated SSGT employs a few part-time staff/volunteers to assist crime victims (often the same personnel as SST).

• Staff with Previous Government Roles: Darroch Ball – former Member of Parliament (NZ First list MP, 2014–2020) now SST co-leader. David Garrett – former ACT MP (entered Parliament 2008 after working as SST legal adviser). Stephen Franks – former ACT MP, noted as an SST supporter/member in the 2000s. These examples illustrate a “revolving door” between SST and politics. (No known former civil servants or regulators on staff beyond political figures.)

• Past Employees: Garth McVicar (founder, retired from leadership in 2018) ; Ruth Money (former National Spokesperson, resigned 2014 amid disagreement over political direction) ; Scott Guthrie (former high-profile SST spokesman, left under controversy in 2018). David Garrett (legal adviser in mid-2000s who left after entering politics, resigned 2010 following personal scandal). These departures often coincided with controversies or strategic shifts.

• Clients: Not applicable. (SST is an advocacy organisation, not a commercial firm – it has no “clients” in the usual sense. Its constituents are crime victims and the general public concerned with law and order, whom it considers it represents.) The trust does provide support services to victims of violent crime (through SSGT), effectively treating victims and their families as service users/beneficiaries rather than paying clients.

• Industries / Sectors Represented: Primarily the victims’ rights and law-and-order sector. SST positions itself as representing victims of serious violent and sexual crime and the interests of “ordinary law-abiding citizens” who demand tougher criminal justice. It does not formally represent an industry, but aligns with sectors favoring punitive justice (e.g. segments of the public, some police associations, and private security/prison interests). Notably, its tough-on-crime agenda has overlapped with the interests of the private prison industry (raising questions about possible alignment there).

• Publicly Disclosed Engagements: SST regularly engages in parliamentary processes via submissions and petitions. It has made numerous submissions to Select Committees on justice legislation (often mobilising mass public input). For example: in 2022–24 it campaigned against weakening the “Three Strikes” law, organizing nearly 450 out of 763 submissions on a 2024 justice bill via a template – a volume the Prime Minister acknowledged before amending the bill. SST has also presented petitions to Parliament (e.g. the Christie’s Law petition in 2012 for stricter bail laws, delivered alongside a victim’s family). The trust’s representatives have appeared in person before Select Committees and at government workshops on victims’ rights (such appearances are noted in parliamentary records and Charities Services events). However, SST does not register under any lobbyist transparency regime and thus formal meetings with ministers are not publicly listed.

• Affiliations: SST is tightly networked within a circle of right-leaning New Zealand lobby groups: it has documented links to Jordan Williams and the NZ Taxpayers’ Union through shared campaigns. In 2023–25, The Campaign Group/Company (an outfit led by Taxpayers’ Union figures) was hired by SST to run attack advertising against the Green Party’s justice policies. This arm’s-length smear campaign – orchestrated by Jordan Williams and Campaign Group GM Ani O’Brien – drew comparisons to the “Dirty Politics” tactics. SST’s office or operational resources have been reported as overlapping with the Taxpayers’ Union’s network. These groups often amplify each other’s messages. SST is also connected to the “Free Speech” coalition milieu – e.g. Ani O’Brien (Campaign Group GM) sits on the Free Speech Union council, indicating how SST’s allies span multiple activist causes. Overall, SST is embedded in a wider advocacy ecosystem of conservative campaigns (crime, tax, anti-“woke” politics), frequently sharing tactics, personnel, and indirect funding sources.

• Sponsorships / Collaborations: None officially disclosed. SST does not publicly list corporate sponsors. Funding comes via donations (see Financial section), and while it collaborates with like-minded groups on campaigns, these are informal alignments rather than openly sponsored partnerships. On rare occasions SST has co-hosted events with community groups (e.g. victims’ remembrance ceremonies) or participated in law-and-order forums alongside police representatives, but no ongoing corporate collaborations are reported.

• Events (held or organised): SST has organised conferences and rallies on victims’ rights and crime. For example, it hosted a Victims’ Rights Conference in Wellington in 2009, featuring government ministers as speakers. It has staged public protests and vigils: in 2008 SST organised a protest by families of victims outside Mt Eden Prison to highlight failures in parole of violent offenders. The trust frequently holds public meetings and roadshows – especially in its early years, Garth McVicar travelled the country rallying support (drawing hundreds to town-hall meetings). SST also appears at political party conferences or law-and-order election events when invited. Recently, in 2023–24 it launched campaign events as part of its “Three Strikes 2.0” opposition – including media stunts like erecting controversial billboards in city centers and releasing a satirical “Defund da Police” music video targeting the Greens. (Those guerrilla-style ad installations in 2023–25, while technically SST campaigns, were executed via The Campaign Company). Annual events: The trust historically held an annual gathering for victims (often coinciding with Restorative Justice Week) and occasionally fundraising dinners in Hawke’s Bay, though details are sparse.

• Political Donations: None declared by the organisation. SST as an entity has not publicly donated to political parties – in fact it avoided registration under the Electoral Act to steer clear of donation disclosure rules. However, SST’s founder and members have engaged in politics: Garth McVicar stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party in 2014 (Napier electorate), effectively an in-kind contribution of SST’s brand to a political campaign. There are indications of indirect financial influence: e.g. Colin Craig’s Conservative Party benefited from McVicar’s endorsement (no formal payment), and SST’s issue campaigns during elections (advertisements, billboards) function as third-party political spending – but SST has previously refused to sign on as a regulated “third party” with the Electoral Commission. Some individual donors to SST may also be donors to tough-on-crime political parties (this information isn’t disclosed). In summary, SST’s influence on politics is exercised via advocacy, not via direct donations, and it has deliberately kept its finances opaque to avoid revealing any political funding.

• Controversies: SST has been embroiled in numerous controversies over the years. Charitable Status & Transparency: In 2010, the Charities Commission de-registered SST, concluding it was chiefly a political lobby, not a charity. SST’s continued use of “registered charity” branding afterward (illegally, according to regulators) drew sharp criticism. Garth McVicar’s creation of a parallel charity (SSGT) in 2015 to regain tax-deductible status, while still running the original SST for lobbying, was deemed a likely “sham” arrangement by Charities Services. Political Partisanship: In 2014, McVicar’s decision to run for Parliament with the Conservative Party was criticised even by SST’s own (Spokesperson Ruth Money resigned, saying aligning the trust with a political party betrayed its independence). “Bad Judges” Blacklist: In 2013, SST announced plans to launch a website to “out bad judges” whose sentences it deemed too lenient. This drew condemnation from the Justice Minister and Attorney-General at the time, who called the move an attack on judicial independence. Under pressure (including dismay from senior judges), SST appeared to back off slightly, but not before damaging its credibility with legal professionals. Defamation & Privacy Breaches: SST has repeatedly published offender information that proved incorrect. In 2014 it settled a case after misidentifying someone on its online “Offender Database.” Then in 2018 it falsely labeled an innocent man as a paedophile, posting his photo and name on its site for almost 2 years. The Privacy Commissioner lambasted SST’s “continuously negligent, cavalier, and dangerous approach to privacy”, an extraordinary public rebuke. The Commissioner took the rare step of naming SST publicly for the breach and referred the matter to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. SST’s response – admitting volunteers uploaded unvetted content and that it lacked any privacy training – was seen as gross negligence. The trust had to take its entire offenders database offline in shame. Internal Turmoil: In 2018, board member Scott Guthrie (who had been a prominent SST spokesman) was ousted after an internal financial probe revealed he’d concealed past bankruptcies and business debts. McVicar attempted to hush up Guthrie’s exit, drafting misleading press releases, but when Guthrie went public, McVicar had to acknowledge the sacking. McVicar admitted he “failed dismally” in handling the debacle. This episode exposed SST’s governance issues and lack of due diligence regarding who represented the trust’s name. McVicar’s Extremism: Garth McVicar has made numerous inflammatory remarks. In March 2018 he congratulated police for killing an armed offender with the callous comment “One less to clog the prisons! Congratulations to the New Zealand Police, our thoughts are with the officer who was forced to take this action to protect the public”. Even Police officials condemned his remarks as “repugnant”. That same post by McVicar spurred a public petition questioning whether SST/SSGT should retain any charitable status at all. McVicar has also blamed social changes (like the “breakdown of the traditional family”) for crime – comments widely seen as out of touch and divisive. In 2018, then-Minister Andrew Little dubbed SST’s leadership “loopy” and “callous” after such comments. Misleading Campaigns: In 2023–2025 SST resorted to anonymous billboard campaigns that drew complaints for misinformation (e.g. a Wellington billboard falsely attributing “Defund the Police” to Green MP Tamatha Paul in 2025) and even copyright infringement (using Green MPs’ images without permission). The Green Party lodged an Advertising Standards complaint, and SST hurriedly altered some billboards under legal threat. These “attack ads” without clear SST branding were criticized as dirty tactics undermining honest debate. In summary, SST’s aggressive style has frequently crossed ethical and legal lines – harming innocent people’s reputations, attracting rebukes from judges, ministers, and regulators alike.

• Other Information of Note: SST claims to be “New Zealand’s most successful and influential victims’ rights organisation” – a boast repeated in its communications. It once asserted having 135,000 members by 2002, a figure viewed with skepticism. (Membership was likely defined loosely – including petition signatories or one-time supporters). The trust’s influence peaked in the late 2000s when it enjoyed sympathetic coverage and political clout, but by the late 2010s it struggled to remain relevant as public attitudes shifted towards rehabilitation over retribution. SST nearly folded in 2018 after McVicar’s retirement – he was prepared for the trust “to fold” as he stepped back – but it survived under his daughter’s stewardship. Notably, SST has never disclosed its funding sources in detail. Questions have been raised about possible funding from private prison operator GEO Group in the 2000s, given SST’s policy alignment with US private-prison lobbies; McVicar refused to explicitly deny receiving GEO money, saying only that SST is funded by “public donations”. This lack of transparency continues to prompt speculation about who underwrites SST’s campaigns. Additionally, SST’s hardline stance has sometimes put it at odds with mainstream victim-support organisations (e.g. Victim Support NZ has kept distance from SST’s punitive focus). Internally, the organisation has effectively been a McVicar family enterprise (with Garth’s wife Anne as a trustee and daughter Jess as spokesperson), raising governance questions. In 2024, SST announced it was “re-activating” with new trustees and a “campaign team” backed by the McVicars – showing the founders’ continued influence behind the scenes even after supposedly stepping down.

• Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: No public record of SST or SSGT receiving COVID-19 wage subsidies. A search of the official subsidy database did not show the Sensible Sentencing Trust as a claimant during 2020–21. This suggests the trust did not apply for or receive wage subsidy support (likely due to its very limited paid staff). The organisation’s funding model is donation-based, and there is no indication of government pandemic assistance in its case.

Sources:

1. Nicki Harper, “Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Garth McVicar stands by comments,” NZ Herald (Hawke’s Bay Today), 5 Apr 2018. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/sensible-sentencing-trusts-garth-mcvicar-stands-by-comments/H6FKXEVXII6D5Y44YRSSZH2VKY/

2. Brooking, Roger. “Garth McVicar commits a $30,000 finable offence every day,” BrookingBlog, 29 Jun 2018. https://brookingblog.com/2018/06/29/garth-mcvicar-commits-a-30000-finable-offence-every-day/

3. David Fisher, “Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Garth McVicar ‘failed dismally’ in plan to handle questions over board member’s exit,” NZ Herald, 23 Jun 2018. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sensible-sentencing-trusts-garth-mcvicar-failed-dismally-in-plan-to-handle-questions-over-board-members-exit/56MGWZVK25357OFFRG6PAULCKU/

4. Emma Ricketts, “Feedback said three strikes law didn’t go far enough, bulk of it was via Sensible Sentencing Trust,” Radio New Zealand, 23 Oct 2024. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/531640/feedback-said-three-strikes-law-didn-t-go-far-enough-bulk-of-it-was-via-sensible-sentencing-trust

5. Ani O’Brien, “Employing her ‘Special Talents’ for The Campaign Group,” NZ Against the Current (blog), 8 Apr 2025. https://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2025/04/ani-obrien-employing-her-special.html

6. lprent (Lynn Prentice). “Sensible Sentencing Trust and GEO Group, a deafening silence,” The Standard (blog), 11 Mar 2009. https://thestandard.org.nz/sensible-sentencing-trust-and-geo-group-a-deafening-silence/

7. Kelly Dennett, “Plotting the survival of the Sensible Sentencing Trust,” Sunday Star-Times/Stuff, 27 Oct 2019. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/116807014/plotting-the-survival-of-the-sensible-sentencing-trust

8. Michael Daly, “‘Negligent, cavalier’ Sensible Sentencing Trust wrongly labels man a paedophile,” Stuff.co.nz, 19 Dec 2018. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109488195/negligent-cavalier-sensible-sentencing-trust-wrongly-labels-man-a-paedophile

9. David Fisher, “‘Bad judges’ site draws flak,” NZ Herald, 17 Apr 2013. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bad-judges-site-draws-flak/WRNGZGFY2J2L6R7Q7NFLF4L6UE/

10. Scoop News. “Sensible Sentencing Trust Re-activate To Oppose Weaker Three Strikes Proposal,” Press Release, 25 Jun 2024. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2406/S00167/sensible-sentencing-trust-re-activate-to-oppose-weaker-three-strikes-proposal.htm

11. NZ Parliament, “Christie’s Law petition delivered – Sensible Sentencing Trust,” Press release photo (Tracey Marceau, Garth McVicar, Ruth Money), Aug 2012. (Referenced in NZ Herald).

12. Bryce Edwards, “Dirty Politics 2.0? Lobbying in the Shadows,” Democracy Project, 6 Apr 2025. *(Edwards’ analysis of The Campaign Group# Sensible Sentencing Trust (SST) – Unauthorised NZ Lobbying & Influence Register Report

Spot anything in this entry that is wrong? Please either leave a comment at the end or email, in confidence: bryce@democracyproject.nz