Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:637;Page:7329] 
8. 
GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) 
 on behalf of  
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
 to the  
Minister of Corrections 
: Does he have confidence in his department; if so why? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 Yes but there is always room for improvement. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Why did it take 2 weeks after Graeme Burton first breached his parole conditions on 5 December for the probation service to seek a recall to prison as section 61 of the Parole Act enables when the police had told the service that if Burton’s parole was not revoked and he remained in the community he would kill someone? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: All the details surrounding that tragic incident are currently under inquiry by way of a number of investigations. It is not appropriate for me to comment on them at this point. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Supplementary question Gerry Brownlee—I am sorry a supplementary question Hon Phil Goff. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Can the Minister confirm in respect of having grounds for confidence in the major function of a prison which is to keep its prisoners secure that in fact prison escapes have been reduced by 78 percent in the last 10 years compared with when National was in Government and can he confirm that that very good track record is notwithstanding quite major growth in the prison population because there are tougher laws and more police? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I can confirm that in spite of a 68 percent growth in the prison muster numbers we have had a reduction of 78 percent in the number of people who have escaped since the former National Government was in charge of prisons. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Why did the probation service not seek a warrant for the arrest of Graeme Burton when he first breached parole by reporting in on the telephone rather than in person when they knew from the police that he was not living where he was supposed to be and why did they believe that sending him a warning letter would reach him when they knew he was not living at the address that they sent it to? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: The Department of Corrections is on record with its response to that. There are however inquiries under way that will check all the details around the timing and actions of probation staff the police and anyone else involved in this tragic incident. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Was Graeme Burton on special offender warning system alert for which the probation service operations manual requires immediate action following serious or repeated acts of non-compliance; if so was action not taken to recall Graeme Burton to prison because probation officers did not understand the powers they had? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I repeat those issues are all under investigation. I can confirm that the offender was on the offender warning system and that immediate action was taken when they had that information at hand. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can he confirm that the crucial psychological assessment of Graeme Burton prior to his release advocated a “carefully managed release under close supervision” and can he honestly stand up in this House and claim that that is exactly what his department provided when Graeme Burton was able to amass a stockpile of military style weapons and commit aggravated robberies and other offences before he was deemed to have breached parole? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: There were a large number of conditions associated with the parole of Mr Burton. It is not for me to prejudge which of those may or may not have been breached. That will be the result of the inquiries currently under way. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Why on earth does he have any right to continue being the Minister of Corrections if he does not have an opinion on how well his department has handled this matter and if he is not prepared to accept some responsibility for a tragedy that has hurt many many people—not to mention the victim himself? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I am not prepared to judge the performance of my department based on speculation by the media nor on accusations by members of the National Party. I will await the outcome of the inquiries. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I would ask you to please reflect on that answer. The Minister appears to be telling us that the well-known facts around the situation that saw Graeme Burton commit offences that have a high amount of tragedy surrounding them were somehow just a fabrication by the media and that he is not prepared to comment on them. Why on earth is he still the Minister? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No I listened to the Minister’s answers and he did address the question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. This is not for this occasion but I noticed that you called Mr Brownlee then realised that Mr Goff was on his feet and that you changed your decision and called Mr Goff before Mr Brownlee—a point I was making at the start of today’s question time. Perhaps you could have that in the future. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I thank the member for his observation. Obviously I learn from experience. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Perhaps it would help Mr Peters if I admitted to deferring to Mr Goff knowing full well that the Government needs as much of the cavalry as it can get at the moment. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: As we know that was not a point of order.