Flavell Te Ururoa: Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:653;Page:2036] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa i tenei po. On behalf of the Maori Party I say from the very start that we believe we have to do things far better in returning those who are in prison back to the community to stay and to live positive and productive lives. We have to look at new models and new ways of doing things and this bill the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Bill is a part of that effort. 
Should Maori have the opportunity to bid along with others to run prisons which could be tikanga-based? Hell yeah! If members did not know this bill is an idea that has been around for some time; it has been a long time coming. As others have said just over a decade ago in March 1999 a Northland iwi Ngati Hine talked with the Corrections Corporation of Australia regarding the proposed site at Ngawha near Kaikohe. The proposal was a joint venture to participate in the administration of a prison. The Australian corporation would run the prison for 5 years and then Ngati Hine would take over the management. The Labour Government pulled the rug out from under the feet of Ngati Hine pushing them to the margins while the State came in and set up Ngawha prison right under their eyes. 
A year later New Zealand’s first privately run prison Auckland Central Remand Prison was opened. Auckland Central Remand Prison was managed by Australasian Correctional Management and lasted a glorious 5 years. I know that “glorious” might be an unusual word to describe anything to do with prisons but we think there was something to celebrate. For once the way in which our prisons are run and managed and how they treat and rehabilitate Maori was being undertaken in a way that was at long last effective for Maori. 
I want to make it quite clear that our support for Auckland Central Remand Prison or indeed for the concept of private management of prisons is motivated purely and simply by the concept of Maori solutions for Maori problems driven by Maori philosophies. We are interested in three key questions. Will private management of prisons be effective in addressing and reducing Maori offending? How will Maori management be different from State management; will iwi be profit-driven? Is something else altogether required—a whare oranga a rehabilitation centre which might be consistent with the policy of restorative justice? These are the questions that we look forward to having responses to during the select committee consideration of this bill. 
But before we get there I want to return to this concept of Maori solutions for Maori problems driven by Maori philosophies which Iwi Whanui o Tamaki-makau-rau promoted as the cornerstone ideology of their relationship with Auckland Central Remand Prison. I think it is important to spend some time refreshing our memories about the achievements that Maori experienced at Auckland Central Remand Prison as it is absolutely central to our support for this bill. Iwi Whanui o Tamaki-makau-rau as referred to by Sandra Goudie was a board representing the six local iwi who were recognised in a formal relationship with the management of the Auckland Central Remand Prison. The six iwi—Ngati Whatua o Orakei Te Kawerau-a-Maki Ngai Tai ki Tamaki Tribal Trust Ngati Paoa Ngati Te Ata and Te Waiohua—were the mana whenua tribes that signed a formal memorandum of partnership with the Department of Corrections with regard to the establishment and support of Auckland Central Remand Prison. 
The detail of the memorandum is actually quite innovative. There is a focus on consultation with iwi and there is a provision to measure the impact of cultural and spiritual values on the design and construction of the buildings. There are procedures relating to the discovery of any wahi tapu koiwi or taonga on the site. Four guiding principles form the very basis of the partnership and they are: establishing relationships with Maori stakeholders recognising and providing for Maori interests being responsive to Maori concerns and ensuring equality of opportunity for Maori. Why on earth would the Maori Party speak against that? 
I want to take us back in time to the basis of the relationship enjoyed between Iwi Whanui o Tamaki-makau-rau and Auckland Central Remand Prison because I think it stands as an example of standards that were set that could and should motivate all of our prisons to lift their game. I do not need to drill too far before we see the ongoing and compounding dysfunction in the current prison system and all of us in this House know only too well that Maori make up just over half of New Zealand’s 8229 prisoners. The question is why we would not look for new ideas for new solutions to encourage innovation and for excellence in the management of prisons. 
The standard that was set at Auckland Central Remand Prison was about improving performance in service provision cultural safety community consultation and attitude right across all levels of management. It was not as some have warned about thinking of prisons as a profit-making industry. There was not a heap of breaches and problems emerging from poor compliance in upholding standards of safety. In fact in practice Auckland Central Remand Prison raised the benchmark in many areas. 
After 150 years of prisons in New Zealand Auckland Central Remand Prison was the first prison to employ a Maori general manager and I take a moment to acknowledge the contribution that Dom Karauria made. It was an institution where the Treaty of Waitangi was not reserved for the library shelves; the principles of partnership protection and participation underpinned all operations and all procedures of management and delivery. I remind the House that the State has legal obligations to strive to respect the rights of incarcerated persons including the protection of their safety and well-being. What we saw with Auckland Central Remand Prison was that it was actually possible to have a penal institution where the emphasis was on rehabilitation and working with inmates to address crime. 
Our colleague Dr Pita Sharples in his role as Associate Minister of Corrections has also suggested that a private Maori prison could build on the work being done in the five Maori units at facilities across the country. We would never say that it is the ultimate answer or the only solution. Our preference of course would be that the chronic issues confronting the State system could be addressed that the risks and safety issues that plague our prisons could be managed and that the well-being and safety of inmates could be upheld. But achievements of this nature are far from a reality at the moment. And so we look to the possibilities of contract management to know that we can actually believe that it is possible to create a culturally safe and appropriate prison. 
Dr Greg Newbold an associate professor in criminology at Canterbury University has publicly confirmed the high standards that were upheld at Auckland Central Remand Prison. In his view the success factors that are associated with private management are that private companies will not tolerate the types of policy failures and management mistakes that we regularly see in our public prisons. Private companies are focused on accountability and credibility and there is nothing wrong with that. Perhaps another surprising source of support was that of Corrections Association National President Beven Hanlon who has acknowledged the current penal system does not work well and also says that there needs to be more accountability. 
The Maori Party is aware that Te Puni Kokiri has been consulted in the process of drafting this bill. Its recommendation was that there should be explicit and measurable performance objectives and standards relating to the rehabilitation of and the reduction of recidivism by Maori inmates. It saw that as a key element by which accountability could be achieved so much so that it should be legislated for and regularly reported on. 
The Maori Party will support this bill being referred to the select committee. Our bottom line is of course that we are opposed to the building of more prisons whether State or privately managed. Our entire aim in fact is to reduce the use of prison as a priority response to offending. But if there are to be prisons and there are Maori inmates then why not also consider opportunities for Maori to manage guide and lead us as partners in the management of prisons? It is an idea that surely is worth considering.