6. 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. [ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERHow can he have confidence in his department, when last month he greeted National’s suggestion that the Department of Corrections be merged back into the Ministry of Justice with the statement that it was “an extraordinary proposal” and “has all the hallmarks of policy being created on the hoof”; and is this what he told the Prime Minister yesterday after she announced that she was open to the idea, while he was standing on the tarmac just before her plane took off?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I was astounded. I did consider it to be policy on the hoof, because I do not think the National Party has any policy.
Hon Marian HobbsHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
Much work is being done, particularly in the area of parole. As I said last week, parolees will have to report more frequently, probation officers will take quicker action following breaches, and the Department of Corrections will provide better information to the Parole Board before parole is granted. The Government is also looking at possible amendments to the Corrections Act to strengthen the hand of the department in dealing with contraband.
Does he stand by his claim that corruption amongst prison staff is not widespread and is not rife, when currently 11 guards at Rimutaka Prison and two at Christchurch Prison have been suspended, and when Public Prisons Service General Manager, Harry Hawthorn, has stated: “I expect there will be more.”, and that they are just “starting to expose the problem.”?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I stand by that statement. There are over 5,000 staff in the Department of Corrections. Wherever we identify possible corruption or any breaches of protocol, we will stand those people down, investigate, and, if necessary, prosecute. That does not mean to say that this problem is widespread.
Hon Annette KingHas he been informed of a lack of confidence in the Department of Corrections in the 1990s because prisoners kept escaping, to the extent that the then Minister of Corrections, Nick Smith, said in 1998 that prison security needed upgrading; if so, what changes have been made to address this National Party legacy?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I did indeed do some investigation. In the 2-year period up to the change of Government in 1999 there were 38 escapes from 17 jails—one even involving a prisoner with an injured knee, suffering from asthma, and carrying an intravenous drip, who out-sprinted the prison guards. Since then, the Labour-led Government has put up 17 kilometres of fences around our prisons, and the escape rate has dropped by 78 percent.
Does the Minister agree with Public Prisons Service General Manager, Harry Hawthorn, that some of the corruption at Rimutaka had been going on for up to 2 years and it was a long time for it to go on without managers picking it up; if so, does not this confirm the view of one former employee that this sort of activity does not go on without the knowledge of management and that corruption goes right up the chain?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I do not accept that ridiculous statement made by the member. Contraband has been part and parcel of prison challenges for many, many years. Positive drug tests in prisons, under that Government, were at a level of 34 percent. We have reduced that to a rate of 13 percent. We will continue to identify, pursue, and prosecute any people, be they prisoners, be they visitors, or be they prison officers, for bringing any contraband into our prison system.
Does the Minister have any advice as to who the new Minister in charge of the supposed superministry of justice will be; will it be the Minister of Justice himself, the Hon Mark Burton, or, as most of the public now suspect, a “reheated” Sir Geoffrey Palmer?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
Simon Power believes that I am the Minister responsible for the entire justice sector. I am responsible for the Department of Corrections—but then again, Simon Power gets most things wrong, just as he did in advocating for New Zealand to go to the war in Iraq.
Can he confirm that on Friday his department cleared doctors at Rimutaka Prison of smuggling the necessary genetic material to allow Peter McNamara to father a child from inside prison; if so, is he prepared to state now in the House, categorically, that none of the staff in his department was involved?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
Mr McNamara has made several claims. One is that the doctor participated. The doctor absolutely refutes that claim. Investigations continue, and we hope to identify what the real facts of the situation are.