Twyford Phil: Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
Twyford Phil: Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
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PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to speak in support of the third reading of the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2). I liked the tail end of the speech by the member for Coromandel Sandra Goudie when she began to talk about rehabilitation about getting people back on the streets and about reducing reoffending. But I say to the member that prior to that point in her speech my head was spinning with what was essentially a sort of tabloid horror show of crime stories. I want to finish the parliamentary week on a positive note but I cannot pass up the opportunity to note what a display that last speech was of how low the standard of political debate has fallen. 
Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: Well I tell you what she has been sent here by an electorate so— 
PHIL TWYFORD 
: I say to the member for Northcote that we are better than this. We are better than this. [ 
Interruption 
] Well we should be. Is this what our political system has fallen to? Is this what our political debate has fallen to concerning matters of crime and punishment? Do we want our politicians and political parties to engage their minds simply in outbidding each other on how tough they are and in recounting an endless stream of stories—some kind of tabloid horror show of nasty criminals? 
We do have problems in this country. We do face challenges in the field of crime and punishment. We have a proportion of our population behind bars that is one of the highest in the world—the highest outside the United States. We have high levels of recidivism. No one is proud of that. But if there were simple answers then I tell members that those answers would have been implemented and turned into policy by now. I call on all of my parliamentary colleagues to lift the standard of debate and to talk about practical measures that will actually improve our justice and corrections system. 
On that note I say that I am happy to stand in support of the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2). It is a practical bill it is a reasonable bill and I am proud that my Labour colleagues did the hard work in putting it together during the last term. The Corrections Act is relatively new legislation and generally I think pretty much all observers would say that it is working pretty well but there are some fine-tuning amendments that need to be implemented. 
Significant progress has been made over the last few years in this area. Prison escapes in the last 9 years were down by 84 percent to just one-sixth of escapes in the prior period. Drug taking fell to less than half of what it was in the period prior to 1999. Fewer inmates returned positive drug tests. Those are all very positive developments. But we need to meet some of the challenges that face us in particular by cracking down on illicit drug use and on the illicit use of cellphones to conduct criminal enterprises from behind bars. That is one of the things that this bill seeks to achieve. It is a sensible bill as I said. It is a practical bill and I think it is patently self-evident to the New Zealand public that the conducting of illicit drug use and criminal activities within our prisons is utterly unacceptable. 
I lend my support to my colleague Rahui Katene for her comments about the kind of problem that substance abuse poses in our corrections system. It is clearly a problem for the management of good order within prisons but it is also a major factor in the high rate of recidivism. I am very proud that the previous Labour Government made big strides in the last 9 years in setting up additional drug treatment units within our prisons. I think that is very creditable. As far as recidivism goes I think everybody knows that along with high rates of illiteracy high rates of substance abuse are among the factors that drive people on the road to crime. If we are serious about reducing reoffending then helping people to get off drugs in prison is one of the best things that we can do. 
In order to tackle the whole problem of contraband the legislation has a number of very reasonable and very practical initiatives. It enhances provisions for the searching of staff lockers amends the definition of “strip search” to allow a more comprehensive approach provides for retesting of drug tests and generally gives prison staff the tools that they need. 
I noted with some amusement that both Caritas and the Catholic bishops made substantial submissions to the Law and Order Committee about their concern that the Act prohibited prisoners from consuming alcohol even small quantities of wine in connection with the celebration of Mass or Holy Communion. That iniquity has been addressed by the legislation. I do not know whether any of my colleagues can put me straight on this but I wonder whether any Rastafarians made similar submissions to the select committee. It would be interesting to know the select committee’s response to that. 
Debate interrupted.