Turia Tariana: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turia Tariana: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:629;Page:1579] 
9.  
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
 to the  
Minister of Labour 
: Will she be taking any action about the health and safety of employees following a Department of Corrections report into Mount Eden Prison which reportedly identified serious non-compliance with building codes and standards fire health and safety requirements; and a “medium” risk of sewage flooding into the exercise yards and other unsanitary conditions? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 I am advised that since the Department of Corrections information was compiled in 2004 to which the member referred all issues identified by the member have been addressed. 
Tariana Turia 
: What workplace health and safety strategy has the Minister considered for Mount Eden Prison which Department of Corrections officials report as facing a high likelihood of service failure the consequences of which would be catastrophic; and why has it taken 2 years for the Government to respond? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I will start by first answering the last question that the member posed. It has not taken that length of time at all. In fact all the issues that were identified in the report have been addressed in the 12 months since that information was compiled. The Department of Corrections has a responsibility to take all practicable steps to comply with the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and my officials will continue to work with the Department of Corrections officials to continuously achieve that goal. 
Simon Power 
: What action will the Minister take to elicit an explanation from the Minister of Corrections given documents that show: “The cost of approving the use of Corrections working capital to fund Spring Hill and Otago is that deferred maintenance risks such as Mount Eden will not be able to be met from the department’s existing funding streams.” and does she consider that a satisfactory response to the ongoing health and safety issues at Mount Eden Prison? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: My responsibility is to ensure that the legislation is complied with. How the Department of Corrections uses its finances and whether it uses that as a negotiating point in budgets is not my ministerial responsibility. 
Darien Fenton 
: Does the Department of Labour automatically prosecute an employer if health and safety standards are compromised? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No. Prosecution is not the department’s first reaction. The most important reaction is ensuring that the workplace is safe and that the employer is committed to taking all practicable steps to ensure a healthy and safe workplace environment. In fact the criteria for prosecution are that it is the only way of achieving compliance but the employer has avoided compliance to gain a deliberate economic advantage; that there is a careless disregard for the safety of the workforce; and to ensure public accountability. In my view that is an appropriate threshold. 
Dr Pita Sharples 
: Kua kite ano ia i te ripoata a Bob Harvey te Tumuaki o Waitakere mo te whare herehere o Mt Eden e ki ana: “Kare e taea e nga kaihanga atamira mo te Ariki o nga Ringi te hanga atamira e weriweri ana e kino ake ana i tera whare herehere whakarihariha kei te mohiotia e tatau. He makariri he maku. Kare e taea te whakamahana te whakatikatika. I hangaia i nga tau 1880 mo nga mauhere 120. I tenei wa tata atu ki te 360 kei reira. He wahi aurere mokemoke hoki. Ki toku whakaaro ko nga raiona ahakoa kei roto i te rawhi whakaaturanga o Tamaki a mate noa ratau ka nui atu ake nga wa e whakakorikori tinana ana e hakari ana e paenene ana i te ra ki nga mauhere kei Mt Eden.”; na ahea ka whakatikatika ai tenei kawanatanga i tenei ahuatanga e whakama whanui nei i a tatau?  
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I remind the member that it is question time. 
Dr Pita Sharples 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. My question—as it will be revealed—contained a quote in order to preserve accuracy and that lengthened the question. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The translation will be included. I accept that but I still remind members that it is question time. 
[ 
Has the Minister read the report from the Mayor of Waitakere City Bob Harvey about Mount Eden Prison: “A set maker for  
The Lord of the Rings 
 could not have created such an evil masterpiece as the real thing. Cold damp unable to be heated or renovated. It was built in the 1880s for 120 prisoners. It now holds nearly 360. It is a place of despair. I would think that the lions in the Auckland zoo incarcerated for life have more exercise feeding and sunlight than the prisoners in Mt Eden.”; and when will this Government do something about this site of national shame? 
]  
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No. 
Tariana Turia 
: Given that a former Minister of Corrections the Hon Matt Robson believed that Mount Eden Prison should be replaced by the year 2003 because of the condition it was in what response has the Minister made to the Corrections Association of New Zealand which warned—after inmates were housed in prison vans last year—that Mount Eden Prison is particularly at risk because ongoing muster problems have led to an increase in assaults on staff and riots and that even the death of a guard could eventuate? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I am not the Minister of Corrections; I am the Minister of Labour and the responsibility of the Department of Labour is to ensure that the health and safety in employment legislation is complied with by all employers including the Department of Corrections. My advice is that no complaints have been laid with the Department of Labour in relation to any activity or concerns around Mount Eden Prison since the middle of last year. The member raised a number of concerns in her primary question and I have been advised that all those issues in relation to health and safety have been addressed.