Lotu-Iiga Sam: Urgent Debates — Serco—Decision to End Contract for Mt Eden Corrections FacilityText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLotu-Iiga Sam: Urgent Debates — Serco—Decision to End Contract for Mt Eden Corrections Facility[Sitting date: 09 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8702. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Minister of Corrections): Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to respond to this debate. Today the Department of Corrections made a decision. It made a decision to not renew the contract with Serco to manage Mt Eden Corrections Facility and I fully support that decision as the Minister of Corrections. Before members opposite jump on their high horses and make ridiculous claims about sacking people and burning up contracts they should understand the nature of contract law first and foremost and understand that they should respect due process and the nature of contracts which we are bound to follow as a responsible Government.By way of background just to elaborate on what went on today the parties signed a 10-year agreement in 2011—not 2009 as the member Kelvin Davis said during his speech; but facts to him are a little bit elusive at times—and there is a 6-year break point.That break point occurs at the end of March 2017 and a year in advance of that break point the contract may be renewed by both parties or the break is exercised as a matter of default.Today’s decision is the Department of Corrections exercising its right not to renew the contract. Corrections in its wisdom has considered that any future contract will require changes to ensure Mt Eden prison is managed safely and effectively.I think that is the first point that needs to be raised here—that it is about safety and security not just of the staff but also of the prisoners who are contained within Mt Eden prison.The nature of the operations of Mt Eden prison is not fully reflected within the terms of the current contract 4½ years on.Corrections will be providing advice to Ministers early in the new year to determine the future of Mt Eden prison and all these options need to be carefully assessed in order to provide for that safety and security going forward.But let me be clear—let me be very clear—this decision does not prejudge the report of the Chief Inspector of Corrections into incidents at Mt Eden prison some of which Kelvin Davis the member who spoke previously referred to.It does not preclude any of the outcomes or the consequences that may stem from that particular report.I want to remind members opposite to respect the sub judice rules that we are all bound by as citizens of this country.They dictate that when legal challenges are made particularly around this report as responsible parliamentarians we should refrain from commenting on these matters.Hon Trevor Mallard: What? Someone brief him as to parliamentary rules. Someone brief him. Get him briefed.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: This decision also comes in the context of the Department of Corrections stepping in to manage the prison in late July. And Mr Mallard knows—Mr Mallard knows—that this was done for the safety and security of the prisoners and staff at Mt Eden prison.Members opposite again may be demanding that Serco cancel the contract both there and at Wiri Prison but that is just irresponsible.That is absolutely irresponsible. It shows a lack of understanding of contract law and it shows a real lack of understanding of due process—and I know Mr Clendon has called for these actions to happen as well. Those members might claim that the privatisation programme has failed but that is absolutely untrue. That is absolutely untrue. This has always been about safety and security and not about ideological viewpoints. It is just that the hatred of members opposite for this type of private provision of services—actually it disguises the huge contribution that they have provided to social services in this country. The absolutely huge contribution that—Hon Damien O’Connor: Oh sure—yeah right!Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: They have. For example early childhood education—who provides some of the top-quality early childhood education in this country? What sorts of providers are they? Well often they are private providers. I hear members opposite actually wax lyrical about some of these providers because they are friends of theirs and they are people in our community who provide these services.What about residential aged care? What about the provision of residential care facilities in our communities? Private providers again provide some of the best services. It is some of the best provision of services in our community. Disability services—these are services that I would argue are given to vulnerable New Zealanders vulnerable people and it is funny that we do not hear crocodile tears from members opposite over these types of services. It is clear—it is really clear—that it is the unions that are driving this ideology.Hon Members: Oh come on!Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: It is—it is absolutely clear. And the reason you also know is that when there are assaults on prison officers in public prisons we do not hear a peep out of the Corrections Association of New Zealand we do not hear a peep out of the Labour Party and we do not hear a peep out of the Green Party. That is right. When there was a riot at Spring Hill Corrections Facility did we hear any members opposite say that we should fire the Spring Hill Corrections Facility and close it down? Did we hear any of those statements being made in this House? We did not. We did not because this is driven by the ideological viewpoints of those members opposite who are backed by their union mates—absolutely backed by their union mates.Members also criticised Wiri Prison and that is not based on anything to do with performance. The facts are that Wiri Prison is working well and they ignore the differences—they ignore the differences—between Wiri Prison and Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Wiri Prison is not a remand facility. It has a different profile of prisoners. It does not have the risks inherent in a remand facility. Wiri Prison is also purpose-built and those members opposite who have been out to Wiri Prison will understand that its focus is on rehabilitation it is on working and it is on education.We cannot judge the performance of a prison based on someone’s observations on what someone whispered in his ear 10 years ago when he was walking down the street in Kaikohe. Wiri Prison is in fact a state-of-the-art prison that is about providing rehabilitation opportunities and there is nothing members opposite can actually advocate that brings that prison down. It should be based on its performance.Then Kelvin Davis talked about the track record of Serco overseas. Well I have got no responsibility for its record overseas and if we were to judge the performance—Hon Annette King: Of course you have. You should have looked at it.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: No I do not have responsibility. Annette King does not understand that but clearly I do not have performance responsibility for those firms and if we were to judge solely on performance overseas then many many providers who are foreign-based would not be operating in this country. Members opposite know that is just an absurd assertion.In terms of the contracting model this is an example of when contracts actually do work. They do work. In contracts we are able to either adjust the contract or use the break point in order to improve the way that services are provided in this country. You cannot do that with public services—you cannot. You merely socialise the cost and who pays for it in the end? Who pays for this? Well it is taxpayers who ultimately pay for public services that are inefficient and ineffective.Before I finish what is obviously my final speech as the Minister of Corrections I want to offer the following points. We stand by the decisions that were made today. We stand by the decisions that were made when these allegations of fight clubs came to bear; 3 days after those fight clubs came to the fore I ordered a review and that review is currently still pending subject to legal action. Secondly the Department of Corrections stepped in. After 8 days of seeing these allegations it stepped in and took over the management of Mt Eden Corrections Facility and now today corrections has stated quite clearly that the contract will not be renewed—it will not be renewed.I also want to pay tribute to the 8000 staff the men and women who every day on the front line across this country are doing the work of corrections to protect not just the members of Parliament in this Chamber but all New Zealanders—to protect all New Zealanders. The work that they do is often unsung often not fully represented in this House but I want to pay tribute to those people who go out there—some of them risk their lives every day—and do a very very good job. They work in our prisons they work in our community corrections facilities right around this country they work on rehabilitating people in order that they be reintegrated back into society and they also work primarily on the safety and security of New Zealanders. That is their primary function and that is what these decisions have always been about.Finally I want to pay tribute to the performance over the last 14 months of the Department of Corrections. We know that there are fewer victims because of the work that corrections staff do. We know that there is less reoffending. We know that there are more drug and alcohol programmes for rehabilitation than there ever have been in Government services. We also know that there are more opportunities for prisoners who come out of our prisons and need to be employed because we know that jobs matter that when they are working they are less likely to reoffend. But we also know that numeracy and literacy are issues and that is why we have rolled out numerous numeracy and literacy programmes across this country: in order to help rehabilitate those people who are within our prisons but also out there in our communities.In summary this decision is about the safety and security of Mt Eden Corrections Facility. I will never apologise for putting that up front as a priority. The chief executive has decided not to renew that contract. I fully support that and I fully support this department. It has been an honour being the Minister of Corrections. Merry Christmas.