National ended Cultural Reports which Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori vigorously opposed

Cultural Reports (Section 27 reports) were not ended.

The Coalition removed taxpayer-funded legal aid disbursements for them under the Sentencing Act, but the reports remain available to anyone able to pay for them privately.

Legal groups and defence lawyers warned this would create barriers for Māori and Pacific defendants, who are already over-represented in the justice system, an outcome Paul Goldsmith himself said was likely, on 28 February 2024. Opposition parties rallied against the change on exactly this inequitable-access basis: Greens justice spokesperson Tamatha Paul called it "irrational" and "senseless," while Te Pāti Māori pledged to repeal it and restore funding. As a result of losing this tool, spending has shifted to alternative pre-sentencing evaluations like psychiatric assessments and addiction reports.