Cosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Cosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:652;Page:1141] 
5.  
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) 
 to the  
Minister of Corrections 
: Does she have confidence in the Department of Corrections; if so why? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I am confident that the department understands that my expectations are significantly higher than those of the previous Minister of Corrections Phil Goff. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Does the Minister agree with her colleague Simon Power when he said that two escapes in 5 days was “a worry”; if so how would she characterise the six escapes in 7 days that occurred in January and another one that occurred from North Waikato Prison this morning? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: In relation to the escapes the member has referred to two escapes are correctly part of the corrections system; the others were actually escapes not from the corrections system but from the police. If the member would like to put down a question on my other portfolio I would be very happy to give him the answer. 
Melissa Lee 
: What action has the Minister taken so far in the corrections portfolio? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Quite a lot actually. We have had a very action-packed few months. So far I have visited three prisons including the Auckland Prison (Maximum Security Division). I have spoken to and listened to prison staff and asked for their ideas on what improvements can be made to ensure they can do their jobs better. I have spoken to and listened to the prison unions and sought their ideas on practical ways the Department of Corrections can be improved. I have visited and listened to community probation and psychological services—something the previous Minister never did. I have reintroduced the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) which was left to languish by the previous Government. I have asked the Department of Corrections to review the legislation and remove roadblocks to the private management of prisons and I have asked that that be done quickly. I have sought a review of security classifications for prisoners to see whether there is any way that this can be fine-tuned to better protect the public and corrections staff. I have given my support to the construction of prefabricated prison buildings to achieve cost reductions in the vicinity of 25 to 40 percent initially compared with the cost of traditional bed and campus-style cells. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister is— 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: There is just so much Mr Speaker. There is just a little bit more. But mostly I have instructed the Department of Corrections to work with Vodafone and Telecom to ensure that cellphone towers built under the previous Government in prison grounds—in Auckland Prison—are relocated as quickly as possible. And by the way I have also asked that double-bunking proceed. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Before I call the honourable member I remind Ministers again that giving answers to questions is not a time for making speeches. It is difficult to hold the Opposition to brief questions if the answers are very very long. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Why is it that it took the Minister 8 days before she publicly responded to the issue of six escapes in a week given the seriousness of the issue—and when she finally did respond she dismissed this as “an operational matter” and then tried to blame the previous Government rather than provide assurances to the affected victims and their families—and apart from engaging in a tiki tour around the country prison to prison what specific action has she taken on prison escapes given that we have had another one from North Waikato this morning? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Perhaps the member who has just resumed his seat did not listen to the answer. Of the six escapes he is talking about only two are from the corrections system. Frankly not one escape is acceptable and that is why this Minister is going to hold people to account for their actions and inactions. Right now I say to Mr Cosgrove I am holding them to account—which is far more than 9 years of a Labour Government ever did; not one person lost his or her job. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Has the Minister given that she has blamed this on the Minister of Police rather than on the Minister of Corrections talked to her “colleague” about this? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Of course in National we do not need to do that because I am that same Minister. But I can tell that particular member—unlike the situation under Labour where members had to have a meeting— 
Hon Member 
: What did she say to you? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: She said that the police have been asked right now to find out why they are not restraining prisoners by the same method the Department of Corrections uses and they have been asked to look at the law changes that need to happen to change that. This Minister is not going to sit back for 9 years as that member did and wait for something else to happen like Karl Kuchenbecker being killed. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Is the Minister concerned that the significant improvements within the Department of Corrections which occurred over the last 9 years and which led to an 84 percent reduction—[ 
Interruption 
]—I will say it again for the member at the back—which led to an 84 percent reduction in the number of prison escapes and a 90 percent reduction in the number of serious assaults on prison staff under the previous Government despite the fact there was an increase in the prison population of 3200 is now being compromised; if not as she takes advice from the member beside her why not? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I can well understand that under the Labour Government people were in fact queuing up to get into prison but I can tell them that under this Minister they might not want to be there. 
David Garrett 
: What if anything is she doing about the incompetence and corruption at the higher levels of the Department of Corrections that was ignored by the previous Government; and by what date can we expect to see some significant action on those problems? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: For a start this Minister has been prepared and will continue to be prepared to listen to staff unions managers and the public and several steps are being considered. But I am not at liberty to further advise the House at this stage.