Goff Phil: Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Goff Phil: Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
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Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I move  
That the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Law and Order Committee. This bill is intended to reinforce and strengthen the Corrections Act 2004. 
The most significant provisions are in two areas. First there are measures to enhance the safety and security of our prisons through the further reduction of contraband and the suppression of cellphone use. Secondly there is improved provision for agencies to share information about the highest-risk offenders to assist in the monitoring and reintegration of those offenders on their release from prison. 
By the end of the 1990s drug use had become endemic in our prisons. For example in 1999 at least 34 percent of inmates in some prisons were testing positive for using drugs. I am very pleased to say that by last year we had more than halved that rate but we can do better still. Changes in technology have also increased the problem of access to cellphones which are smuggled into prisons. On occasions these have been used to organise crime from inside the prison. On one occasion they were used to arrange an armed escape and they have also been used to intimidate people outside the prison. 
A lot of progress has been made in the fight against contraband through increased security and surveillance. Some 17 kilometres of security fences have been erected since 1999. Electronic security devices cameras closed-circuit television motion detectors and microwave sensors are amongst the additional security measures that have been put in place. Increased surveillance has included doubling the number of drug-dog teams to 12—they have proven very effective—and regular checkpoints set up outside the prison to screen visitors and staff. These new measures have resulted in the detection of much more contraband. 
This bill is needed to complement these operational initiatives. It includes a number of important changes to the Corrections Act that will make it harder for anyone to bring prohibited items into prisons and easier to detect such items and punish prisoners and others for using them. The changes include enhanced procedures for searching prisoners and increased powers to search in specific circumstances. There is also provision for random searches of areas of a prison including staff lockers. Offence provisions relating to contraband are tightened up with the introduction of new offences and some increases in penalties. Prisoners who possess or use any electronic communication device such as a cellphone will face the prospect of an extension to their sentence. Anyone who knowingly possesses an unauthorised item while visiting or working in a prison will also be committing an imprisonable offence. A zero-tolerance approach to criminal or corrupt behaviour by staff is reinforced by increasing the penalties on staff passing contraband from the current 3 months’ maximum sentence of imprisonment to 1 year in prison and doubling the maximum fine to $5000. 
In addition the bill addresses the problem of prisoners who tamper or attempt to tamper with tests for drug and alcohol usage. For example there is a provision for retesting if a prisoner’s sample is diluted tainted or otherwise contaminated. There is also provision for strip-searching in those circumstances when a prisoner has to be retested. 
It may not be possible to stop all cellphones from getting into prisons by use of normal search and seizure provisions. Action to jam detect and monitor cellphone and other radio-based communications within prison boundaries is another important way to stop misuse of cellphones by inmates and this bill provides specific authorisation for the Department of Corrections to do this. The bill creates the legislative framework for the implementation of a range of technical solutions such as jamming technology in prisons throughout the country. The Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Economic Development have been working with Telecom and Vodafone to develop and trial these solutions. I have to say that the ongoing support of Telecom and Vodafone in this work is much appreciated. 
I turn now to information sharing. Current legislation does allow the Department of Corrections to share certain information with the police regarding highest-risk offenders when they are released from prison. However the information that may be disclosed is not always sufficient to enable police identification of the offender. Further because disclosure is only to the police and only for monitoring purposes it does not assist with the reintegration of those offenders into the community. This bill will allow disclosure of information on highest-risk offenders that is sufficient to allow a coordinated response by the Department of Corrections the police and where appropriate relevant social agencies. 
The opportunity has also been taken to tidy up a number of other smaller issues in the Act. The Crown is provided with appropriate protection from liability in situations that may arise in epidemics or other emergencies affecting prisoners such as when a prisoner may be required in those circumstances to stay beyond the full term of the sentence. Although there is a general prohibition on alcohol in prisons for obvious reasons it is made clear that prisoners are allowed to take Communion wine in small doses. There is a general prohibition on prison staff carrying firearms but under this bill firearms may be used in prisons—for example on prison farms for such purposes as humanely killing animals. Communication with prisoners may be prohibited where this prejudices the well-being of a victim of a crime committed by that prisoner. This is another example of the Government’s putting the interests of victims first. The department’s ability to read prisoners’ mail is provided for consistent with the current ability of the department to monitor prisoners’ telephone calls. Electronic communication and written communication should be basically subject to the same rules. The forfeiture and disposal of items involved in the commission of offences in prisons are authorised. 
This bill is important for the effective management of our prisons. The Corrections Act 2004 established a sound legislative framework for the operation of the corrections system. This bill now implements further improvements within that framework. I commend this bill to the House.