Power Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Power Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:629;Page:1150] 
12.  
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
 to the  
Minister of Corrections 
: Does he stand by his statement that “almost 30 percent of the inmates” currently in jail are “no risk to society”; if so why? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I stand by my statement that almost 30 percent of inmates received into prison are sentenced to less than 6 months and some of those inmates are no risk to society. 
Simon Power 
: Can he confirm to the House that his proposals to release almost 30 percent of inmates—people who are “no risk to society”—will not compromise the Department of Corrections’ primary goal of safer communities; if not why not? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I have no proposals. I was asked by the media what ideas had I learnt while on a trip overseas. I have qualified any of those ideas with an absolute commitment by myself and by every Minister and member of this Government that we will continue to catch convict and lock up serious and violent offenders. The record shows that we have been successful in doing that and we will continue to protect society from violent and dangerous offenders. 
Simon Power 
: Who is right: Phil Goff who changed the sentencing bail and parole laws after the 1999 referendum on wanting tougher sentences or the Minister who now says that 30 percent of inmates are no risk to society at all? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I did not say that 30 percent— 
Simon Power 
: Yes the Minister did. Here is the transcript from National Radio. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I welcome the opportunity to read the transcript of the interview and I will do that. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: As long as it is short; otherwise table it. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: “Those low-risk offenders the people who are spending less than 6 months in jail—that is almost 30 percent of inmates—and people who are no risk to society but who have a debt to repay and perhaps there is a better way of their repaying that debt.” 
Ron Mark 
: Has the Minister read the Department of Corrections’ annual report 2004-05 and particularly the table headed “Recidivism Index 12 Month Follow-up Percentages for 2003-04” which shows clearly that those people who are imprisoned for short periods of 6 months to 2 years have a far higher reimprisonment rate and reconviction rate than those sentenced to prison for over 5 years—the figures are 30.4 percent reimprisonment for them as compared with 18.9 percent reimprisonment for those with sentences of over 5 years—and does that not say that people who are sentenced to prison for longer learn faster and do not reoffend? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: The one sad reality with all prison systems throughout the world is that the recidivism rate is far too high for people who go to prison. That is why it is far better if there are other options rather than sending them to prison. The other reality is that we have to work better on rehabilitation and reintegration programmes so that people who leave jail stay out of jail. 
Simon Power 
: Does the Minister stand by his statements on National Radio yesterday where he said: “the people who are spending less than 6 months in jail—that is almost 30 percent of inmates—are people who are no risk to society” or does he consider that to be part of what the Prime Minister has referred to as “sentencing creep”? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: As I have tried to explain—and I am happy to table the full transcript after this question and the member may choose to take a part of it—I was clearly implying and have done in many interviews over the last couple of days that 30 percent of the inmates in jail are there for fewer than 6 months. By inference that would imply that judges have deemed them not to have seriously offended. There are also in excess of 39 percent of inmates who are deemed to be of low risk to society. I think we have a moral obligation to look at better ways of dealing with offenders than simply locking them up and throwing away the key. I would like to remind the House that the member Simon Power is very enthusiastic about US policy and that in the US they lock up people at three times the rate we do in this country. I do not want that member ever to become the Minister of Corrections. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Is the Minister of Corrections talking about that category of offenders who serve fewer than 6 months which the previous National Government passed legislation on through the Criminal Justice Amendment Act that reduced the minimum sentence they had to serve from half of the sentence to a third of the sentence or is it a different category of inmate such as addressed by the Sentencing Act and the Parole Act where the sentences have become much tougher and much longer and inmates have to spend a much greater percentage of their sentence in jail rather than being released early? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: It is not the second category. It is the first category that I am looking to try to help. I applaud the efforts of that Minister in making sure that we catch criminals and lock up serious and dangerous offenders. Indeed that is exactly what we have done in Government. 
Simon Power 
: Has the Minister just decided that it has all become a bit too hard for him with budget blowouts the increasing prison numbers prisoners helping themselves to tea and coffee and showering at rugby clubrooms and criminals applying for jobs as prison guards and has he now decided to adopt a new policy of “if in doubt let them out”? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: I am proud of this Government’s record around corrections. We have committed almost a billion dollars to build four new prisons. We now have in place facilities to cater for the increasing number of criminals whom we catch convict and penalise in this country. But we have a moral obligation to look at ways of better rehabilitating and reintegrating low-risk offenders into society.