5. HONE HARAWIRA (Māori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) Link to this
to the Minister of Corrections
He aha te take i kore ai tana tari i whakautu i te tono a Ngāti Hine ma Ngāti Hine ake e hapai nga kaupapa Maori mo nga mauhere o Te Tai Tokerau i runga i te ahua, neke atu i te waru tekau orau o nga mauhere, kei roto whareherehere i Ngāwhā he uri no Te Tai Tokerau, a, i runga hoki i te ahua o nga korero a Te Tari Mauhere ka pumau ratou ki nga kaupapa a-iwi Maori?
[Why did his department not take up the proposal from Ngāti Hine to provide a comprehensive habilitation service, which was specifically designed to be culturally appropriate to inmates from Tai Tokerau, given that over 80 percent of the inmates of the Ngāwhā prison are of Tai Tokerau descent, and the department’s commitment to culturally appropriate practices?]
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Associate Minister of Corrections) Link to this
He nui rawa ngā tono i whiwhi ai Te Tari Mauhere mai i a Ngāti Hine, kāre ēnei tono i whai hua otirā, kei te mahi ngātahi Te Tari Mauhere me te kaitiaki iwi o taua rohe, a Ngāti Rangi, kia heke iho ai te hunga mauhere o Te Tai Tokerau.
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[The Department of Corrections received a very large number of submissions from Ngāti Hine but none were successful. Indeed, the department is working alongside the local guardians of that region, Ngāti Rangi, to reduce the number of people of the north who are ending up in prison]
Nā, kua mārama ki a tātou te rahi o te utu ki ngā kaiutu tāke nā te nui ake o te utu i ngā utu i whakaritea i te tuatahi i te wā i hangaia he whare mauhere i Ngāwhā, ā, i ngā utu kei te utua hoki hei whakatikatika i te whare mauhere nā te turi o te mauhere ki ngā whakatūpato o te tangata whenua kia kore rātou e hanga whare mauhere ki reira, ka taea e te Minita te whakamārama he aha ai i hangaia te mauhere i Ngāwhā nā te mea, kāhore a Ngāwhā i tohua hei tūnga tuatahi mō taua whare mauhere, ā, i runga anō hoki i ngā whakatūpatotanga nā te tapu, ehara a Ngāwhā i te wāhi hei hanga whare herehere?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[Now that we know of the massive cost to the taxpayer caused by the cost overruns in the construction of the prison at Ngāwhā, and the ongoing costs in the repair of the prison caused by the department’s refusal to accept warnings by the tangata whenua not to build a prison there, can the Minister please explain why the prison was built at Ngāwhā when it was not on the original list of preferred sites, and when he was prewarned that Ngāwhā would be a culturally inappropriate place to build a prison?]
Ā, kei te mārama tonu au ki ērā tū momo kōrero e te Kaihautū engari, tutuki noa atu ēnei whakawhitiwhiti kōrero i te tau 1999, i raro i te Kāwanatanga o Nāhinara. Otirā, i tēnei wā kua whakamārama ake ki a mātou o te Kāwanatanga ko ētahi o Te Tai Tokerau kāre i whakaae ki tēnei Whare Herehere. Otirā, wētahi atu, kai te whakaae. Kai te whakaae a Ngāti Rangi. Nā reira, nā runga i tēnei whakaae, ka haere tonu te whare herehere.
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[I am very much aware of those kinds of statements made during the previous National Government in 1999. We of the present Government are aware that some in the north were opposed to this prison, but some, like Ngāti Rangi, were in favour. And because Ngāti Rangi were in favour, the building of the prison went ahead.]
Simon PowerCan the Minister assure the House that other issues at Ngāwhā prison have also been resolved, such as the fact that windows to prisoners’ cells do not close, enabling prisoners to help themselves to tea and coffee in the staff room at night, and to stroll in and out of the control room, and the fact that recent figures show that 84 out of 87 corrections officers at Ngāwhā have less than 1 year’s experience?
Ka huri au ki te reo hoko parāoa!
[I turn to the language of commerce!]
I am aware of those issues. I am also advised by officials that there was one particular design fault in one of the windows of the cells. The inmate decided that he would go for a cup of tea. The fault has been repaired, and there is no longer a problem.
Ka taea e te Minita te wakamārama ki te Whare tō rātou pūmau ki ngā kaupapa whakapakari tangata mō Ngāpuhi i te mea, i ngā tau 10-15 kua pahure ake nei mō ngā pūtea kua tohaina i roto o Kaikohe, te Manawa hotuhotu o Ngāpuhi, kua haere,tuatahi, kia rahi ake te tari mō ngā tamariki, ngā rangatahi me ō rātou whānau;tuarua, kia whakapaipaihia te whare pirihimana;tuatoru, kia tuwharetia te whare tautāwhi; tuawhā, kia hāngai he whare herehere kāhore e ārikarika te utu ngā miriona taara neke atu?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[Can the Minister tell the House what the Government’s commitment to social enhancement programmes for Ngāpuhi is, given that over the past 10 to 15 years the Government’s social expenditure in Kaikohe, the heart of Ngāpuhi, has centred around, first, the expansion of the Department of Social Welfare; second, the upgrading of the police station; third, the opening of a periodic detention centre; and, fourth, the construction of a multimillion-dollar prison?]
Madam SPEAKERI am sorry; that question is out of order. It is wide of the original question, which does relate to Ngāwhā prison. Unless it was specifically related to that, the question is out of order. It is too general.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. It does actually relate to the prison, in that the prison was the final construction in a series of measures in Kaikohe beginning with the Department of Social Welfare upgrade, the upgrade of the police station, the building of a periodic detention centre, and culminating in the building of a multimillion-dollar prison. In the light of that, I was asking whether that is what the Labour Government’s commitment is to the social enhancement of the people of Ngāpuhi.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
The problem is that the last part actually reveals the difficulty that this is a question to the Minister of Corrections. If it is a general question about contribution to social welfare, then, clearly, that is a question for the Minister for Social Development and Employment, not the Minister of Corrections.
Nandor TanczosCan the Minister confirm that the recommendations of the most significant inquiry ever done into our prison system—the 1989 Roper report—is totally consistent with Ngāti Hine’s proposal and the philosophy underpinning it, and why does the Department of Corrections and the Government, despite their many fine words, continue to give habilitation and rehabilitation a low priority and move in entirely the opposite direction from those recommendations?
I am totally confident that Ngāti Hine’s proposal is consistent with what is actually happening now in Ngāwhā prison. In fact, I visited Ngāti Hine twice earlier this year and observed those programmes, and I am very confident that they are doing a good job.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I did not actually ask the Minister whether he thought those recommendations were consistent with Ngāti Hine’s proposal. That was the premise of the question. What I was asking was: why does the Department of Corrections give a low priority to habilitation and rehabilitation, and why have the recommendations of the Roper report been ignored by the Government, and, to be fair, by the previous Government, as well?
The Minister did address the question. The original supplementary question was very broad, and therefore the Minister had much latitude in the way he responded to it, which happens in those instances.
Ron MarkI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I bring your attention to Speaker’s ruling 151/7, of Mr Speaker Kidd, in the interests of ensuring we have one law for all in the House. I note that in the exchange of supplementary questions from the Māori Party in relation to a number of questions in the House today, questions have been prefixed with the word “given”, and two supplementary questions to this question have been prefixed with the words “now that”, which went on to a long diatribe. I note that the interpreter adjusted one of the answers for the member, but it was not an actual interpretation of the way in which the question had been put. I know that they are new members, and I understand, but could you possibly offer some guidance to ensure that we all do comply with the same laws in this House?