Power Simon: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Power Simon: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:632;Page:4348] 
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
: 
 I have been looking forward to making a few comments on Vote Corrections and I look forward to the Minister’s response to some of my concerns. 
First of all I send my condolences to Barry Matthews for landing the job of CEO Department of Corrections and probably getting himself into a department where he had no idea how bad things were before he got there. I quite genuinely wish him well in his attempts to right what have been a number of historic debacles in that department although I have to say they do not appear to be getting better at all. 
The estimates process is an opportunity for the Committee to ask the Minister a couple of questions. Could the Minister explain to the Committee and the public of New Zealand how the building of four new prisons originally estimated to cost $400 million ended up costing $890 million? I think the public of New Zealand would be quite interested to know the answer. Could he also tell us how in the building of those four prisons the average cost per bed across those four prisons is $535000? I think the public of New Zealand would be very interested to know that—in particular those people who live in Otago and are waiting for the completion of the “Milton Hilton” where beds are costing over $600000 each and in an environment—Milton—where one would imagine that sum of money could buy two or three homes for each prisoner not provide one prison cell. 
I think it would be useful if the Minister were able to explain how inmates have been able to go to the beach for a day supervised by the Department of Corrections. Because a number of inmates from Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison had “behaved well” they spent a day at the beach. I think the public of New Zealand would be interested to know how that occurred. I also think they would like to know how it is that prostitutes were phoned and invited to Rimutaka Prison in recent weeks. I think they would be interested to know how it is that people in South Island prisons are able to access steak eggs and chips lollies and ice cream for good behaviour. More particularly I think the public of New Zealand would like to know these two things: the first is how it is that $11 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent landscaping those four new prisons and second why that $11 million has not been spent on rehabilitation and employment programmes for those inmates so that when they come out of prison and as we all acknowledge they are all coming out of prison they are at least able to make some attempt at constructively being reintegrated. 
I would also like the Minister to tell the public of New Zealand and me how it is that with 7600 prisoners 83 percent of whom have drug and alcohol problems there are only 44 specialist drug beds in our prison system. I would like to know how it is that since 2004 when the Corrections Act was passed $2.6 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on transferring the management of the Auckland Central Remand Prison back to the public sector when that money could have been spent on rehabilitation employment programmes and drug and alcohol specialist beds in those prisons. 
I want to know how the Minister can keep turning his back on an utterly incompetent department over which he has no political management at all relying only on the bumbling efforts of senior management of that department to get things wrong on a daily and hourly basis. The only person who has had anything to do with corrections in the last 12 months—who sits here smiling—is Paul Swain. He knew the day he got out of that portfolio that it was all turning to custard. He laughs every time I say that because he knows that is right. 
I say to the Minister that these are serious questions. The department for which he has responsibility is in a shambles. The public of New Zealand are saying to the Minister that these questions are serious. His department is in a shambles. The public of New Zealand know it is in a shambles. I ask him to stand and explain to the public of New Zealand how it is that that level of money continues to be wasted in that department yet prisoners are not being rehabilitated and society is becoming no safer. The responsibility for that rests on his shoulders.