3. SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) Link to this
to the Minister of Corrections
Does he have confidence in his department; if so, why?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Corrections) Link to this
Yes, but there is always room for improvement.
Did his department deceive the Ombudsmen when it told them, in 2004 and 2005, that it had developed national standards for prisoner transport and upgraded its vans, when it clearly had not, leading the Ombudsmen to make incorrect statements in their own annual reports for those years?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
The information I have been provided with, in relation to this incident, says that there was no intention to deceive the Ombudsmen at all, and the information supplied was indeed accurate. I am not sure why the Ombudsmen may have misinterpreted that information, but it is something I will find out more about, and I will be happy to answer that question if the member wants to come back to me.
Does he stand by his statements in this morning’s New Zealand Herald that he had “not yet identified the person who may have sent that report to the Ombudsmen” and that it had “been difficult to isolate who was accountable on the issue”, when surely the people who are accountable on this issue are the chief executive and the Minister?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I have one letter that was sent to the Ombudsmen from one of the senior managers. I am checking whether that was the information supplied, or whether there were other letters. That is something I will get to the bottom of.
How can the Minister have confidence in his chief executive, when the executive disagreed with the Ombudsmen’s finding that a lack of communication between the national office and frontline staff led to inconsistent practice, yet for a year and a half management did not bother to tell staff that proposed national standards for prisoner transport had been revoked and that in one case local prison staff were delivered a new vehicle and were left to design and fit the interior themselves when they had little or no idea how to go about it?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
The facts were, at the time, that the prison transportation system was run on a prison by prison basis. I have instructed the chief executive to change that and to have one national system that will better enable head office directives to go to each and every staff person regardless of the prison he or she works at.
Is the Minister now telling the House and the people of New Zealand that it is the Ombudsman’s fault that he misunderstood the reply of the Department of Corrections in 2004, or does he want to take this opportunity to revisit that answer?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I am not blaming the Ombudsman at all. What I am saying is that the information I have access to, which was provided to the Ombudsman, is accurate. It may not have included all the information the Ombudsman wanted—that is something I am investigating—but it is reasonable to assume that the Ombudsman could have misinterpreted that information.
Does the Minister agree with the Prime Minister’s view that Barry Matthews is “an exceptional chief executive”; if so, how does he reconcile this with his statements to the media in the past 24 hours that his senior managers were “on notice”, that Mr Matthews “stays for the moment”, and that “he’s not a disaster every week”?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
The chief executive is exceptional but he has an exceptionally challenging job. He has to get on with that job and make the changes following the restructuring of the head office to ensure that clear lines of communication and accountability go from top to bottom in the Department of Corrections.
Nandor TanczosCan the Minister explain to the House his confidence in his department when one of the key criticisms in the Ombudsmen’s report—which is the lack of ability to monitor prisoners while they are in transportation—is an issue that would seem to be a question of basic prisoner safety and public safety; and how can he explain that his department has paid, seemingly, no attention to that matter to this date?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
We are paying attention to that, and all new prison vans, as they come into the system, have been redesigned to better facilitate the observation of each and every prisoner. The situation we have at the moment is not ideal, but as new prison vans come on stream and as the design standards are nationalised, we will have a better ability to observe each and every prisoner.
Does the Minister have confidence that the Government will commit to providing the resources necessary to implement the recommendations of the Chief Ombudsman’s report on prison transport, which is estimated to be a $30 million investment, in order to ensure safe and humane transportation of prisoners?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I have said we accept all the recommendations. However, some of them are going to be difficult to implement and some of them require further negotiation with the Ombudsman—such as his wish to see prisoner vans stop whenever a prisoner wants to go to the toilet. I do not think that is reasonable. He also wishes to see prisoners have access to escape hatches. I think that is potentially dangerous and we need further discussions on that. There are a few issues that have yet to be resolved, but we accept the recommendations in the spirit in which they are made.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I think the Minister has actually misrepresented the recommendations of the Ombudsmen’s report.
Madam SPEAKERDoes he stand by his statement in the New Zealand Herald this morning that the department will implement all recommendations in the report?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
We will do so in a cost-effective and practicable manner. We will not implement ridiculous proposals that may put the public, prison staff, or prisoners in danger. We have to work through a number of those key recommendations to make sure they can be implemented in a sensible way.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question was pretty straightforward. It required only a yes or no answer, and the question was whether he would implement all the recommendations of the Ombudsmen, as he stated in the New Zealand Herald this morning. I simply required a “Yes” or “No”.