7. Question No. 7—JusticeHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 7—Justice7. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney) to the Minister of Justice: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): Yes.Hon Mark Mitchell: Does he stand by his statements in relation to the criminal justice summit: I'm totally satisfied with the cost of the summit." and "It takes a lot to put … together"?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I'm not quite sure what the member is quoting from but the last time I spoke in this House about the criminal justice summit I said that their costs were excessive. I've spoken to the Secretary for Justice about it and I expect better cost control in future.Hon Mark Mitchell: Does he know how much it cost to set up three registration desks at the summit?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: No.Hon Mark Mitchell: Is he surprised to learn that the cost of setting up those desks was $20278?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I'm not sure I have any information that supports that accuracy of that statement but what I am pleased about is that since the criminal justice summit and in fact since this Government has been in office the prison population has reduced significantly saving this Government tens of millions of dollars.Hon Mark Mitchell: Does he think it excessive that $20278 of taxpayers' money was used to set up three registration desks at his criminal justice summit?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Assuming that that member is correct yes.Hon Mark Mitchell: How does he think that the taxpayers—the four taxpayers—feel about having their annual income tax the income tax of four minimum wage earners spent on setting up a registration desk?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The overwhelming feedback I've had from New Zealanders as I've gone around the country is to say "At long last we have a Government that is addressing the very serious problems that underpin the rapidly growing prison population that happened under the previous Government." They are very pleased to see a Government that doesn't want to continue to spend over $1 billion a year on locking up ever more people and not dealing with the underlying problems. I'm pleased to see that a public debate about different ways of approaching criminal justice and prison reform is happening and I look forward to good positive results.SPEAKER: And I am going to ask the Minister just to address the very specific question. The member might want to ask it again.Hon Mark Mitchell: What would the Minister say to the four minimum wage earners that have had their annual income tax pay for three registration desks at the criminal justice summit?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I would say what I said to the House a few weeks ago which is that the costs of the summit were excessive. I've spoken to the Secretary for Justice about it and said that I expect much better cost control on any comparable exercise in the future but equally I've also said that the overwhelming feedback from New Zealanders as I've gone around the country—including in regional New Zealand; Ōāmaru most recently Wanganui last week—was people saying "At long last we have a Government that's taking seriously the issue of getting to grips with the ballooning cost of imprisoning more people with no better results." And we are facing that challenge.Hon Mark Mitchell: How did he not catch the extraordinary waste of taxpayers' money before the criminal justice summit?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: My instructions to the Secretary for Justice were very clear during the course of the ministry putting together the criminal justice summit which was that I expect good cost control. Since the criminal justice summit I've continued that conversation with the Secretary for Justice and I expect better cost control from that ministry in the future."