Clendon David: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClendon David: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 17 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9068. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.DAVID CLENDON (Green) to the Minister of Corrections: Is she confident the Department of Corrections will be meeting all of its targets by 2017?Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Corrections): It is going to be tough but if anyone can the Department of Corrections can.David Clendon: When did the Department of Corrections first inform the Minister that the muster is due to hit close to 10000 by the close of this year a blowout of some 1200 inmates?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Probably in our first meeting actually. But I would say that I would not call it a blowout. I would say that the right people are in prison for the right time.David Clendon: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I appreciate that the Minister—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! This is a point of order. There will be no interjections from anybody. Ministers front-benchers from either side—if they are going to continue to interject on points of order they will leave me with no choice but to ask people to leave the Chamber.David Clendon: The Minister did address the question but I am not party to knowing when her first meeting with the head of the department was. I would like to—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I gather the point. If the Minister could assist us by telling us approximately when the first meeting took place with her officials.Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I was sworn in as the Minister of Corrections on 18 December 2015 so it would be some time after that. But if the member really wanted to know he could pop it down as a primary question.David Clendon: What is the extra cost to the taxpayer of the unforeseen increase in the prison population?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well that depends very much on what the Department of Corrections has to do in relation to that but I would say to the member that the cost to the taxpayer is nothing compared with the cost to victims of being victimised by violent offenders.David Clendon: Is the Minister aware that inmates are being denied parole because of the backlog of inmates awaiting rehabilitation programmes that they must complete before they can be granted parole?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I think that the Parole Board always tries to get people to undertake their programmes but I would also say to that member that sometimes it is not—Andrew Little: It’s not the Parole Board’s responsibility; it is the Department of Corrections’.Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Oh dear well ask a question Mr Little if you really want to. The Department of Corrections cannot force people to undertake rehabilitation programmes and quite often it has said to me that it cannot get some offenders to do that.David Clendon: Will the Minister allocate more funding to rehabilitation and reintegration given comments made to the select committee this morning by Ray Smith Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections that more spending on reintegration and rehabilitation will reduce the prison population?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: The member will have to wait for Budget 2016.David Clendon: Does the Minister now regret some of the policies that she has effected in her term as Minister of Justice given that those same policies have contributed to the blowout in the prison population?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Oh well definitely not. In fact I would say to that member that what has in fact led to an increase in the prison population is that very serious violent offenders are being treated as very serious violent offenders.