Davis Kelvin: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDavis Kelvin: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 03 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8554. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]12.KELVIN DAVIS (Labour—Te Tai Tokerau) to the Minister of Corrections: Does he still have confidence in Serco given that Mt Eden Corrections Facility has dropped to last place in the most recent Prison Performance Table?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Minister of Corrections):My confidence in Serco as I have already said very often in this House and in its management of Mt Eden Corrections Facility will depend on the outcome of the review currently under way and the actions taken to address the issues that it raises.Kelvin Davis: Given the new tables does he think Serco’s earlier top rankings were real or were they due to Serco pulling the wool over his eyes?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: Those tables are based on the facts that are available at the time. May I just inform the member that when a prison fails core security it immediately falls to the bottom of the table.Kelvin Davis: How many core security incidents occurred at Mt Eden in the year to June 2015 which caused it to drop 16 places?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: Clearly the evidence around the fight clubs caused the failure in core security. But may I add that Rimutaka Prison and Whanganui Prison failed core security for the year ended 31 December 2014. Christchurch Prison also failed the core security criteria on 31 March 2015. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I am going to ask the—[Interruption] Order! Is the point of order—Kelvin Davis: Sorry. I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I did ask how many core security incidents.Mr SPEAKER: Yes. I am going to invite the member to ask that question again.Kelvin Davis: How many core security incidents occurred at Mt Eden in the year to June 2015 which caused it to drop 16 places.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: The member again fails to understand how these tables work. It requires only one incident to fail core security. Clearly it failed based on the evidence that was given to the Department of Corrections at the time and that included evidence of fight clubs.Mr SPEAKER: The question was: “How many incidents?”. If the Minister does not have that information he can just simply state so. Would the Minister please address the question that has been asked.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I do not have that information but clearly there was one incident relating to the fight clubs at Mt Eden prison which led to that failure.Kelvin Davis: Does he still stand by his statement that Serco is the “highest performing prison”; if not what does that say about his position that privately run prisons are working well in New Zealand?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I made that statement in May of 2015 based on the evidence that was—[Interruption] Yes it was this year—[Interruption] Excuse me.Kelvin Davis: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The point of order is that the question asked: does he still stand by his statement?Mr SPEAKER: I will invite the member to clarify the question again for the Minister.Kelvin Davis: Does he still stand by his statement that Serco is the “highest performing prison”; if not what does that say about his position that privately run prisons are working well in New Zealand?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: As I have said I stand by that statement based on the facts that were given at the time and I made that statement in May of 2015.Kelvin Davis: How can not receiving a bonus of $325000 be considered a proper punishment when its baseline is untouched and Serco is still making millions off New Zealanders?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: The amount is actually $315000. That amount is based on the contract that was signed at the time. I suggest that that member needs to understand contractual law—that you must base these sanctions on the contract that exists at the time.Kelvin Davis: How can the public have any faith in the Department of Corrections given that it missed everything that was going on at Mt Eden until it was exposed on the 6 o’clock news?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I reject that assertion made by that member that the department missed everything because clearly it has monitored and sought assurances from Serco and is working alongside it right now to manage Mt Eden prison.