Flavell Te Ururoa: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
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TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker a kia ora tatou katoa e noho nei i roto i te Whare i tenei rangi. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Deputy Speaker and to us all seated about the House today. 
] 
Unfortunately my co-leader Dr Pita Sharples has been called away but he has provided me with some words that he would have said with regard to this Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill. In offering up this korero I acknowledge the work that Pita has prepared for the House today. According to Dr Pita Sharples this is what he believes—and what we in the Maori Party believe I might say; I had better say that. 
I heard a story yesterday about a girl called Sally. Last summer Sally decided school was not for her. She just did not want to go. It turns out that when the class went swimming she had been put into the embarrassing situation of having to tie her shoelaces a task she was not prepared to perform. After having suffered the shame of being taunted about having a parent in prison she just did not want another hassle in her life. Teaching her to tie shoelaces had been just one of the things that slipped by as the family coped—or did not—with the situation of incarceration. 
I have to admit that this bill has wreaked a little bit of havoc on our normally serene caucus. We have been literally torn apart by the complexity of associating children with prison. We all know that children who suffer the fate of losing their parent to prison feel vulnerable stigmatised and at risk. They experience the full gamut of emotions from embarrassment and shame to rebellion and anger. They live with the grief of loss. They feel the fear of the unknown unable to protect their parent who is now caged beyond prison walls. Being separated from our loved ones is sheer and utter hell. If we as parents suffer the misfortune of being kept away from our families because of the job we love just imagine how hard it is for children to be separated because of crime. 
I want to acknowledge the amazing work of PILLARS Nga PouWhakahou which goes on year after year with approximately 12000 children every year who are sentenced to separation from their imprisoned parent. Despite this PILLARS suggests that the children of prisoners remain largely invisible. PILLARS has a simple statement that sums up this bill: “Paying for crimes they did not commit.” What crime did the newborn baby born to a woman who finds herself in prison commit? What crime did the 6-month-old baby commit that rips the baby from the breast of his or her mother? What crime did the 1-year-old child commit that is punishable by separation? I think of my mokopuna and the absolute last place in the world I would wish them to be would be prison. I think of my children and if any one of them had the misfortune of being imprisoned I can but imagine the agony they would experience in being torn from their children. 
The dilemma we face with this bill concerns how one evaluates the true impact on a child of losing a parent to prison. We simply do not know. We know that since the self-care units have been established at Arohata Women’s Prison the floodgates have hardly opened. There were four women in 2004 six in 2005 and four in 2006. That is 14 in all—hardly enough to get excited over. Yet clearly the Minister of Corrections got pretty excited. The initial costings to meet peak periods of demand were estimated at approximately $19.6 million in capital expenditure and $6.5 million in annual operating expenditure. The facilities must be pretty flashy at that sort of costing. Faced with the multimillion-dollar proposal the Minister then came back and responded that the women could make do with existing accommodation. What he said was: “subject to the availability of resources.” We have all heard that before. The Minister may as well say: “No means no.” 
We in the Maori Party asked for further clarification about the financial projections for this bill. We asked whether it included medical facilities for the mothers and babies and whether the facilities were of the dormitory type individual rooms cells or independent living facilities à la flats. We asked whether there were shared flatting arrangements. We asked for details on staff numbers specialist services available and the types of rehabilitative programmes available. We did not get a response but the questions still remain. Really that is symptomatic of our collective view of this bill—the questions remain. 
If our aspirations are for children to be nurtured under the protection of their mothers would not our efforts be put to better use in promoting the increased use of community sentences? Surely it would be preferable for children to be raised in their own homes with their mothers serving home detention than to have the violent brutal prison environment inflicted upon them? We wonder what the international empirical evidence says. Will adults remember that they were born and raised in a prison for the first couple of years of their lives? Will they remember the bars the guards and the prison walls? Or will they remember being nurtured breastfed held and loved by the person who brought them into the world? Much of what shapes these formative years may well be alleviated through design and attention to detail. Many of the women’s prisons across America have taken on a major transformation in their visiting rooms. Instead of children paying for crimes they did not commit by being ushered into dark cold unattractive corridors they are playing freely in rooms decorated with Disney characters toys books and child-friendly decor. 
We can all accept that the early childhood attachments are crucial for child development but the jury is out on how best to support and promote that early bonding experience. In New York there is a correctional facility for women where their babies are allowed to stay with mum until the age of 2. At that time the child is transferred to the extended family or the State while still continuing to have the benefits of visits with mum. The research from that facility indicates that these children have a much higher chance of being healthy than if they were removed and raised in a home where the early nurturing did not take place. There is no room for absolutes and certainties. Some children are far better off being cared for by family members. Some children fare far worse through being nurtured in a home limited by poverty and economic hardship. Other children flourish in environments where there are consistent caring adults assuring them they are loved and secure. The point is that there must be opportunity for children to be nurtured to have access to support and to enjoy all the experiences that build strength and vitality. 
Is such an ideal possible in prison? The Government clearly believes so. Is it possible that a prison can provide safe abuse-free and secure environments for children to grow up in? These are just some of the many many questions our caucus has struggled with throughout the consideration of this bill. Ultimately however we know that every child born is a child born into whanau hapu and iwi. We know that those same whanau hapu and iwi must each in turn ask questions of themselves as to what is the best possible outcome for their babies their mokopuna. The bill sets in place a process by which the mother enters into a parenting arrangement. Our preference would be that these parenting arrangements are agreements with the wider whanau giving credence to the premise that our children are truly at the heart of the family. 
Finally we congratulate Sue Bradford on bringing this important issue to Parliament. Today I can tell her that we have three votes in favour. For far too long these children have been ignored in the public debate a debate that tends to focus on crime and punishment rather than the fate of dependent children. What we say is that if our way of life fails the child it fails us all. 
Koina te korero o te Takuta Pita Sharples. 
 [ 
That is what Dr Pita Sharples said 
.] 
That is an offer of congratulations to Sue from our co-leader Pita Sharples who is not here today and also on behalf of the party. On a personal note although we have some issues in respect of the whole notion about babies in prison at the end of the day we did some research and touched base with people who have been at the coalface—some who have been in that situation. They confirmed that having children in prison at an early age is far better in some ways for many but of course it depends on the individuals involved. It was a very difficult issue for us to come to grips with but at least today I can say that the Maori Party is with the member and we offer our congratulations. Ka nui te mihi ki a koe huri noa i te Whare tena koutou kia ora tatou. 
[ 
Congratulations to you of the highest order and to you collectively throughout the House greetings thank you 
.]