Connell Brian: Corrections Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee Procedure 
Connell Brian: Corrections Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:617;Page:13035] 
BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
: 
 I rise to speak on Part 3 and like the other two members who have taken a call on this part I also want to focus on clause 194 “Existing management contracts must not be extended.” But before I do I want to respond to the Green member who made some extraordinary comments in respect of some comments I made. I want to clarify to that member that there are prisoners at the Auckland Central Remand Prison who have admitted their guilt. They are there on remand because they have done just that. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: He’s not listening. 
BRIAN CONNELL 
: He should be listening. Some of those people spend a long time there and if they did not go into some form of rehabilitation that management team up there would be ignoring its responsibilities. I say to that member that sometimes it is best to remain silent and have people think he is a fool than to open his mouth and remove all doubt. I also have to say that I am astonished to look across the House and see Government members who were on the Law and Order Committee with me and have not yet taken a call. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: Name them! 
BRIAN CONNELL 
: Martin Gallagher is one of them and he is the chair of the committee. I ask Martin Gallagher and others what price principle? Mr Gallagher and I and others went to Auckland and visited a number of prisons. The difference between what we saw in Mount Eden for example and the Auckland Central Remand Prison was one that a bus could be driven through. He knows and I know that one of those institutions was being managed exceptionally well—the one managed by Australasian Correctional Management Ltd—and the other was not. 
He knows and other members of the select committee know that this is a miscarriage of justice. This should not be happening. The Auckland Central Remand Prison delivers a higher standard of service for both inmates and taxpayers and the Government bleats on about private prisons not being cheaper. How do we know that? We know that because the Minister tells us that the Department of Corrections told him so. If the Minister believes that he believes in garden fairies because of course the department will tell him that. 
This is the truth: with the cost of capital and overheads accounted for the cost per day under private management is $130 per inmate and under the Crown it is $270. I would like the Minister to take a call and respond to that. For his edification and for the Green member who is now exiting the Chamber because he cannot stand the heat let me repeat that. Private management costs $130 per day per prisoner and under the Crown $270 per day. That is a whopping $50 million that this Minister and this Government would have the taxpayers of New Zealand continually fork out. The reward for the private prison management team for outstanding performance is: “We’re going to get rid of you. We are terminating you.” The Minister is tough; he is the terminator. He says: “We’re going to terminate you despite how well you have performed.” 
Do members know why that is? It is because the Government’s buddies—the unions—have had their inefficiencies exposed. Members should listen to this as it will interest those who are really dedicated to best practice. Private management uses a ratio of two staff to 57 inmates. Crown prisons use a ratio of 18 staff to 60 inmates. That is the difference—that is what this Minister is trying to force on the hard-working taxpayers of this country. 
The Auckland Central Remand Prison does that because it uses better technology has better management and quite frankly employs better staff. I have met some of those staff and so have other members of the select committee which is why I say to Government members who have not taken a call that it is to their everlasting shame. This bill does not stand close scrutiny.