Ririnui Mita: Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
Ririnui Mita: Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:1015] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
: 
 Prior to the lunch break as you said Mr Speaker we were debating the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) and I had touched on a range of issues that I had experienced as a former probation officer and as a former Associate Minister of Corrections. The fact that the Attorney-General felt it necessary to plagiarise the speech of the previous Minister of Corrections—now the Leader of the Opposition the Hon Phil Goff—tells me that National is in full support of this bill. 
I was about to mention prior to the lunch break that in my capacity as Associate Minister I had the opportunity to visit a number of prisons around the country—in particular the Maori focus units in which previous Ministers from the previous Labour-led Government had considerable input in terms of the units’ design and resourcing. I understand and I read on a number of occasions that the former shadow spokesperson on corrections and now the Minister of Justice the Hon Simon Power visited a number of these institutions and had a considerable amount of comment to make on the way they were structured and run. By and large the comments were quite positive. I think that we in this House need to understand that our corrections staff work very hard as has been mentioned in the debate this afternoon yet get very little support from the wider community because there is little understanding of the nature and extent of their responsibilities. In previous years also I have seen very little support from a number of political parties particularly during debates. The work in prisons of these public servants is quite difficult and is carried out under the worst conditions yet they seem to manage to control the way in which prisons and penal institutions are run on a daily basis for the sake of public safety. 
I make mention of the bill that is coming before us with its need to block the use of cellphones within prisons—[ 
Interruption 
]—and Parliament! On a number of occasions I have sat down with corrections staff and inmates and I can tell members that it is amazing to hear of the level of intimidation that staff and inmates are subject to as a result of the use of cellphones. Their families are intimidated and the wider communities are intimidated but no one outside the institutions is aware of this apart from corrections staff. So I think this bill is a major step towards overcoming the problem. We also find that Maori focus units become a place where inmates tend to draw to for their own safety and to be free of intimidation so that their families are not subject to threats any more. I think it is for that reason that former Ministers of Corrections have put a lot of energy into the development of Maori focus units. 
I am aware that the co-leader of the Maori Party now the Minister of Maori Affairs— albeit outside Cabinet—has been one of those who have committed a lot of energy to the establishment of the Maori focus units. So I think there is value in having the units remain although their staff have been subject to considerable political bombardment and scrutiny. That is OK; as public servants they need to expect that. But by and large the units do a very good job and the safety level for inmates within the institutions has increased because they have found within the institution a place where they can feel safe. The Maori focus units have provided that safety for them. I am sure that the member for Whanganui will support me on that given that he has had some experience in that particular field. But it needs to be appreciated that these people work very hard and get very little support externally. 
I am glad that the Minister of Justice is in support of this bill and I also hope that the new Minister of Corrections will visit some of these institutions to get some insight into how they are run on a daily basis. I have no more to add to this part of the debate. Thank you. Kia ora tatou.