3. Question No. 3—CorrectionsGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour) to the Minister of CorrectionsQuestion No. 3—Corrections3. GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour) to the Minister of Corrections: What reports has he seen on the current prison population?Hon KELVIN DAVIS (Minister of Corrections): Reports from March this year showed the prison population peaking at 10820. That number has been declining since April this year. Last Thursday our prison population was 9661—that's down 1159 or a reduction of more than 10 percent in the last nine months. This change hasn't happened by accident. It has come about through innovative programmes and proactive engagement and by simply helping people to navigate their way through the system.Ginny Andersen: Has the decline in the prison population had any effect on the safety of our communities?Hon KELVIN DAVIS: No. When this Government announced its intention to reduce the prison population some suggested that it was impossible was reckless and would make New Zealanders less safe. I'm happy to say that while the prison population has been decreasing so has the number of victimisations recorded by police which has fallen by 3.5 percent—that's 1304 fewer crimes against a person. Maybe what could be considered reckless and unsafe is instead the Opposition scaremongering over the reforms—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member can't use a patsy question to attack the Opposition.Ginny Andersen: What actions has he taken to reduce the prison population?Hon KELVIN DAVIS: To be clear the people who should be in prison are in prison. The changes we have made have improved people's access to justice. It involves simple things: helping illiterate people fill in bail forms giving people access to their phones so they can supply the phone numbers needed for the bail process and getting prisoners better ready for parole hearings. People that end up in prison have their freedom taken away as a punishment for their crimes; our job as Corrections and as a Government is to help them and their whānau while they do their time so that when they leave prison they never come back.Hon Simon Bridges: Does he think that there's a serious problem and if so what's he going to do about it when prison numbers are going down in accordance with the Government's plans and programme as he said and yet 143000 people signed a petition delivered today at Parliament calling for tougher sentences around the death of Nathan Kraatskow?SPEAKER: Order! Hang on. I'm trying to work out the responsibility of the Minister of Corrections for this justice issue. Maybe the member could try rephrasing it.Hon Simon Bridges: Does he think that there is a serious problem and if so what will he do about it when his plans that he's just outlined are seeing prison numbers go down and yet today a petition's been delivered to this House with 143000 signatures seeking tougher sentences given the death of Nathan Kraatskow?SPEAKER: The Minister can answer the first part of the question. He has no responsibility for the second.Hon KELVIN DAVIS: The prison population has gone down because corrections has sought efficiencies and effectiveness within the system. No laws have been changed and it's only in the National Party where efficiency effectiveness and the saving of taxpayer money is seen as a bad thing.Hon Simon Bridges: Is the policy he's implementing effectively fewer criminals more victims?SPEAKER: Order! The Minister has no responsibility for that.