Franks Stephen: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Franks Stephen: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:614;Page:10717] 
11.  
STEPHEN FRANKS (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Corrections 
: How many of the 242 prisoners released early for Christmas were serving sentences for violent offences and how many had already served a previous custodial sentence? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I am advised that the information could not be obtained within the time available. However the number of inmates released this Christmas is fewer than in 1995 when 292 inmates were released or in 1997 when 315 inmates were released under a previous National Government. 
Stephen Franks 
: Why has the Minister not made sure he could answer such a simple question when I asked his predecessor a similar question at this time last year; and how does he know whether this Christmas bonus for crime will protect the community when he does not even know what offences inmates have been locked up for? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: It is not a Christmas bonus for crime. The reality is that getting the information in the way the member is seeking is difficult because of manual requirements on computers etc. As a result I have not been able to get the information in the time available. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. We are facing an interesting situation. It is possibly the last day for questions and we have a Minister who just gets up and says that he has not had the time or the inclination to get the answer. Normally when Ministers are in that situation they say they will get the information for the member and deposit it in the Parliamentary Library. The member has not made that commitment which seems to indicate that he is defying the House and does not want to give the information because if he did deposit it it would turn out to be very embarrassing. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No if that last comment were true the Minister would be committing a very serious breach as the member knows. The Minister gave the answer that he had not had the time to get the information. I have to accept that as an answer. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I realise that you cannot direct answers—and you have just told us in the House that you would like them to be different—but it would be nice for you to point out to the Minister that the normal practice in this House is that when a Minister cannot provide the information in time he then gives a commitment that he will and that he will make it available to all MPs. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think that that is a fair point. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Yes I am happy to give the member that commitment. 
Martin Gallagher 
: What is the policy on Christmas release; and what changes if any have been made to that recently? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Inmates can be released only if their release date falls between 15 December and 5 January. The Department of Corrections has recently reviewed the Christmas release policy to ensure that offenders serving less than 6 months will not now be released early unless there are extenuating circumstances. That is a change from the policy in place under the previous Government whereby there was no restriction in terms of short-term sentences. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Why has the Government made that change in policy when this time last year the Government was defending the fact that an Invercargill man sentenced to 1 month’s imprisonment was in prison for less than 90 minutes before he was released? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Firstly it was the policy of the previous National Government. But having said that secondly I say that the policy was not right and needed to be changed. 
Keith Locke 
: Will the Minister be recommending the release before Christmas of the jailed elected MP Ahmed Zaoui particularly as the Refugee Status Appeals Authority has determined that unlike some of the people referred to by Mr Franks in his original question Mr Zaoui has not committed any violent offences and that the authority recommends he be allowed to live in our community as a refugee? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: No. 
Stephen Franks 
: How many of those released in the Christmas bonus last year have shown their gratitude by committing more crimes this year; if the Minister does not know will he undertake to find out and let us know given that that is surely the right measure of the success of his Christmas programme? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I do not have that information but I am happy to make it available. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I seek your guidance and assistance and an assurance from the Minister that my concerns and fears are not valid. In his question Mr Franks wanted to know the number of inmates serving sentences for violent offences who had been released. We know that has been a very controversial issue over the past year and one the Minister has had some difficulty dealing with publicly. Then the Minister went on to say he could not answer that because the information was not available to him. We have all sat in select committees and heard how wonderful the integrated offender management system is. We all know that the Minister has email and fax available. There are only 242 prisoners involved. In the space of 4 hours the Minister would have been able to have all those emails through to him and been able to report to the House—unless of course he is deliberately seeking to avoid answering the question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I ruled that comment out before. The member has not raised a valid point of order. In fact the Minister in response to a supplementary question from Mr Franks said that he would supply the information when he received it.