Bennett DavidHon DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. Isn't that interesting? The Minister of Corrections could spend only 20 seconds on rehabilitation. The biggest thing that can be done for a prisoner is to rehabilitate them and yet that Minister spent nine minutes and 80—nine minutes and 60—Hon Members: Ha ha! Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well my maths might not be right but there's worse maths in this room—9 minutes and 40 seconds. There's actually worse maths in this room which we'll come to soon but that member could spend only 20 seconds on rehabilitation. Why have they taken rehabilitation out of this bill? Why has the Minister done that? The Labour members have got plenty of time to now follow on from that member's speech and answer that question: why have they taken it out? That was the fundamental part of the legislation that Louise Upston put forward and yet this member has taken out the most important part of the legislation. He's left all the other bits—all the rats and mice that people can see potential in and see some reasonableness around—but the rehabilitation was the actual core of this legislation and that's gone. It just shows that there is no sense of wanting to rehabilitate prisoners because we've seen a reduction in the rehabilitation budget in our Budget last year. That has been reduced from what it was projected to be. They reduced that rehabilitation funding in the Budget last year. We know that it's going to be reduced again this year because the member over there has to make savings within the system. Because he has to make these savings he's going to cut down on the rehabilitation schemes within the Budget—isn't that true Minister? We look forward to seeing that coming out in the Budget because the Minister started his speech with one fundamental line—which is quite interesting coming from the Labour Party—It's not about the number of prisoners entering prison." It's not about the number of prisoners entering prison when their whole policy is to reduce the prison population by 30 percent. Their whole policy is a numbers policy. It's not to see a reduction in reoffending. It's not to see increased rehabilitation. It's not to make sure that those prisoners will actually have a full and rewarding life outside of prison and actually contribute to our communities and to keep people safe. The Labour Party is only concerned about numbers yet the Minister when he stands in his speech here says "It's not about numbers." when that's all they are talking about. The Minister says there's been a 7 percent reduction in the prison population. Now my maths before wasn't great but this Minister's maths isn't great either because that 7 percent isn't taken on the number of prisoners there were at election day; this is on a date sometime in the past since then. If we want to go back to what the Labour Party actually promised it was a 30 percent reduction of prisoners on election day. On election day: 10400 prisoners. That was the briefing to the Minister: 10400. It's not some much higher number that the Minister uses to come to his 7 percent reduction. Isn't it convenient that there's suddenly been a reduction? But when we go back to what the Minister promised when the Minister promised it pre-election: 30 percent—Hon Kelvin Davis: Yep 7300 in 15 years. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Over 15 years now. We've got plenty of time. Well he's had a year and a half and what's the prison population? It's over 10000 again—it's back over that. He's tried everything he can to let people out. He's let them go out on bail at their first hearing. He's made sure that—Hon Kelvin Davis: I don't make those decisions. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Pardon? Hon Kelvin Davis: I don't make those decisions; a judge does. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Oh you don't make those decisions. Have you ever talked to anyone in the bail centres? Hon Kelvin Davis: No. The judge—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Actually—Hon DAVID BENNETT: Never? Oh I'm sure he has. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order! I don't need to talk to anyone and could you please come back to the bill. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well part of the bill—and the speaker before me talked about this—is around police jails. They've taken that out and the rationale for taking that out is that they don't need it because the prison population is reducing—that's their rationale. Well the reality is it's now over 10000. It hasn't reduced by 7 percent as that Minister said and he's tried all the easy things he can do. Hon Kelvin Davis: Yeah. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Yeah. He has tried all the easy things. Now the tough stuff has to be done. At some point—that's right; he's agreeing. Well how are you going to reduce it by 30 percent if the tough stuff needs to be done? The tough stuff is letting more prisoners out changing the bail laws changing the sentencing laws—all those things that Andrew Little will not admit in this House to doing. They will not admit that they are going to do those things. They've had a year and a half they've had hui and they've had meetings and they haven't done it. The Minister has agreed that the tough stuff's still to come. Well the public out there need to know what that tough stuff's going to be. We don't want to go to the next election and have the Government hiding behind what it plans to do after the election around sentencing and bail. We want to know up front what that tough stuff's going to be because if there's this magical promise out there that can be achieved about numbers—as the Labour Party has said—then be honest with the public. What have you got to hide? Hon Kelvin Davis: Who's hiding? Hon DAVID BENNETT: You are. You won't actually give the legislation. Now come forward and tell us that tough stuff. We want to see it. The reality is that there has been nothing done to stop reoffending once prisoners get out of prison and that is still very very high. There has been a reduction in rehabilitation within the prison system which is a key thing for prisoners and keeping our community safe but there has been—and we admit this fully—all this work about reducing numbers. It's not actually about changing people's lives and it's not about making our country safer for the victims out there. It's all about numbers and what's actually happening—Hon Kelvin Davis: The crime rate's going down. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well if the crime rate's going down you should have a lower prison population anyway Minister. The crime rate's been going down for a while but the other thing Minister is that what is happening now within our prison population—which has been increasing in the last few months—is that we are actually getting tougher prisoners in there and l. Look at what that means for corrections officers—DEPUTY SPEAKER: This relates to the bill—how? Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well it's the police jails bit which they've taken out which relates to prison capacity. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You need to actually relate that to the bill. Hon DAVID BENNETT: OK. So when we look at what's happening now with corrections officers time and time again they are being assaulted and taken advantage of because the prisoners that are in prison now are actually the tougher prisoners because they're letting out a lot of the easier prisoners and leaving the really hard ones in there and that's creating an environment which is not safe for people working in that environment. The corrections officers' association has been to that Minister around that and we are not seeing any response from that Minister. We are in the year of transformational delivery from this Government and yet the prison population is over 10000 so why then did they take out the police jail cells from this legislation? If we are in a transformational Government that's in its year of delivery why don't we see rehabilitation in this legislation? Why don't we actually see the clauses that were there originally which were in the best interests of prisoners corrections officers and victims and the community? This Minister is passing legislation through today that has been the highlight of his ministerial role as the Minister of Corrections but none of it is his work. It was all done by Louise Upston. He's taken out the two major bits of this legislation. That's all he's done—he's taken out the two major bits—and we are left with a rising prison population—Hon Kelvin Davis: Oh God! Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well the Minister cannot deny that the prison population is increasing. It has in the last few months and it will continue to do so and we do not see any attempt to get to that final end goal because they won't do the hard stuff. They took the hard stuff out of here and they won't do the hard stuff in Parliament."