Collins Judith: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Collins Judith: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:12731] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 It is with pleasure that I rise to speak to the estimates debate in relation to the Department of Corrections. First off I congratulate the department because it has now received an extremely good response from the public. Research New Zealand’s June 2010 quarterly survey showed that 61 percent of respondents had confidence in the Department of Corrections. That percentage is up from its previous high of 40 percent when Phil Goff was the Minister under a Labour Government. Goodness knows what it was before that under all the other Ministers it had! So it is 61 percent as opposed to 40 percent. 
That indicates the amount of hard work that has gone on in the Department of Corrections over the last 18 months and also frankly the amount of support that this Government has given to the changes that needed to be made in the department. For instance we have had to increase the number of probation staff by another 303. That is all about the fact that we have had a big increase over the years in community-based sentences—45000 community-based sentences are now being looked after by the department. That required a large increase in staff but also the need for the department to look at the way in which it managed offenders and to make sure that it was using its discretion and training to make the very best decisions based on what its officers knew and what their training taught them. 
We have also seen a big increase in the prisoners housed by the department over the last decade. When I first came into this role I was told that we would run out of beds for prisoners by February this year. The Department of Corrections had a plan for that which was to increase double bunking and to bring in container cells. When I announced that we were going to bring in container cells it was dismissed as a stunt. We had Peter Williams QC saying that it would be a slum. Well I invite him to come out and have a look any time because it is some of the best accommodation that we have in the department frankly. It is a vast improvement on almost anything else that I have seen around the country. No longer should we see people with potties in their rooms as I saw at Waikeria Prison the other day. In container cells it is all mini-en suites; it is warm and contained and they are fantastic. 
Metiria Turei 
: It’s an open toilet in the bedroom. 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I know that the Green Party does not like them but the cells are recycled so they are very green. I am not quite sure what we have to do to please the Greens. 
We know that the previous Government built four new prisons and started a rebuild of Mount Eden Prison. We are looking to finish that rebuild of Mount Eden Prison and build another prison. We are not looking to build another four; we are looking to build another one and to complete the one that the previous Government did not finish. 
We are also looking over the next year to bring in more of the private sector to work in the Department of Corrections. I am pleased that the Maori Party supports that. It is not that we have any problems with the way that the department is doing things but it is very important to bring in a benchmark for the department and also to offer opportunities for iwi to get more involved in rehabilitation. 
We know that although Maori are 15 percent of the population they represent 51 percent of the male prison population. The figure is even worse for the female prison population. I know that the Labour Party does not like to admit it but basically that tells us that real social issues are driving that crime. People do not just commit crime; there are all sorts of things that go on from the time that an offender is born or probably even before the offender is born that lead to crime becoming a way of life. We know that if we are to succeed in the corrections area and if we are to succeed in the justice area we need to succeed for Maori. If we do not then we will continue down the path that we have for years and years of increasing prison populations. 
I think that most people would realise that I am pretty staunch when it comes to people who commit violent crimes and to locking them away for a long time. Frankly there is no problem with that as far as I am concerned. When more of those sorts of people are locked away there are fewer victims. Frankly that is a good thing. But I think it is very important to look at what happens when they come out. What amazes me is that the previous Government whose members like to make out that it is very kind about rehabilitation actually did very little at all. The National Government is doubling the amount of rehabilitation available to prisoners. We are doubling the amount of drug and alcohol rehabilitation now and more than half of our prisoners are involved in any day in work or educational training. We are doing all of the things that those members talked about and we are doing it well. 
Vote agreed to.