Robson Matt: Corrections Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee Procedure 
Robson Matt: Corrections Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:617;Page:13000] 
Hon MATT ROBSON (Deputy Leader—Progressive) 
: 
 I know that we are debating Part 2 but I want to take a minute to congratulate the Labour Party the Green Party and the Progressive party on passing the addition of clause 6 which deals with restorative justice to the bill. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Sit down! 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I was just yelled at by Dr Mapp. He told me to sit down. Is that in order? 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is not a point of order. But DrMapp should come to order. 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: Very good. Clause— 
Dail Jones 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I just heard the speaker congratulate the other parties on passing clause 6. Clause 6 is in Part 1 and we are on Part 2. So would you please ask the member to come back to the part we are debating? 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is not a point of order—and the member is a longstanding member of this House; he has been in the political arena for some time. 
Dail Jones 
: With respect it is a point of order. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: It is a debatable issue. 
Dail Jones 
: If I started speaking on clause 3 you would pull me up and if I started speaking on clause 6 you would pull me up and quite rightly. We are dealing with Part 2 beginning with clause 7. We are not dealing with clause 6. So I am absolutely right Mr Chairman with the greatest of respect. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Please be seated. The member had only just stood. If he had been going a little bit longer then I would have pointed him to the bill. 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: My point is that clause 6 becomes operative in Part 2 and I note that most parties in this Parliament have said they are in support of restorative justice. I will be in Whakatane on Saturday at a restorative justice graduation ceremony. I will point out to the people there that one of the members of Parliament a member for the area near Whakatane Mr Tony Ryall for the National Party has voted against implementing restorative justice in our prisons. 
Part 2 has some of the most controversial parts of the bill in the view of the Opposition but it is not controversial if we look at the record of the Department of Corrections. I note that under successive Governments going back to the National Government of the 1990s support for programmes that dealt with the issue of the overrepresentation of Maori in prison has been a central focus of the Department of Corrections. So it is interesting to note the opposition of the National Party to programmes and an approach that focus on working with Maori—and by extension with Pacific Islanders—to reduce the rate of reoffending. 
Clauses 50 and 51 set out the management plans and the rehabilitative programmes. They are built on the work of programmes that have been successful such as the Maorifocus units Kia Marama Te Piriti the Straight Thinking programme the Making Our Drivers Safer programme the drug therapy programmes the bicultural therapy programmes and so the list goes on—including employment programmes. When this bill becomes an Act it will underpin the evidence-based programmes that we know do work. What we do have to work on clearly is extending the programmes that work and getting rid of any practices that do not meet the goal of reducing the rate of reoffending. The Minister has pointed out that with this bill we have a holistic approach so that we concentrate on not only what occurs inside prison but also reintegrative processes outside of it. 
I would also like to commend the fact that in relation to clause 109 there is now an amendment that includes members of Parliament among those official agencies to whom prisoners can write confidentially. This points to Mr Mark’s oft-noted concern about any ill-governed actions inside the prisons or any illegal actions that are occurring. Because inmates are able to get in touch with members of Parliament they have access to Parliament and can raise questions when they have concerns. I point that out to Mr Mark because he seems to be tremendously concerned—at least he has said so in this Parliament—when something goes wrong inside a prison. However the policy of New Zealand First seems to be that of the Iraqi model under both Saddam Hussein and the present United States— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member will come to order. 
Ron Mark 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. Are you going to allow that? Today we have seen offence taken because people were referred to as Hungarian immigrants. We now have a former Minister—the Minster responsible for covering up the “goon squad” affair—saying that New Zealand First supports the type of treatment meted out to Iraqi prisoners in a jail. That is not only ridiculous; it is offensive and disgusting. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I did call the member to order. The more I think about the comment the more I think it probably comes under Standing Order 116 “Personal reflections”. I ask the member to withdraw. 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: I withdraw. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you. 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: Clause 155 deals with the right of members of Parliament to visit prisons. Ensuring that that right remains is an important step. I myself know both as a former Minister in this area and as a member of Parliament that it has been an important right of members of Parliament so that they are informed. I do hope that more members of Parliament take advantage of it and actually visit prisons before they speak in these particular debates. 
On the question of the private prison it should be noted that the policy of the Labour Party and certainly the policy of Jim Anderton and myself at both the 1999 election and the 2002 election made it clear that revocation of the contract for the private prison would occur. That has also been the policy of the Green Party. I think it would behove members of this Parliament who claim to know so much about what happens in the Auckland Central Remand Prison to become informed about the other parts of the corrections system which actually deal with 99 percent of the inmates of this country not just the top end of remand prisoners.