Hon Damien O’Connor
Minister of Corrections

30 July 2007 Media Statement

National's Corrections ideas would cost the country $100s of millions extra – O'Connor

National Party MP Simon Power should come clean about the costs of his party's prison plans, Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor said today.

"Simon Power's comments in the Dominion Post today are a mishmash of half-truths and exaggerations. Facts and Simon Power go together like the north-poles of two magnets – they never line up straight.

Mr O'Connor said that if National is genuinely concerned about these extra costs then it should stop misleading the public and say what it stands for.

"The only thing the public of New Zealand knows to date is that National has signalled it will forgo future capital spending on vital infrastructure, such a prisons.

"This contradicts National's plans to abolish parole, which would cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars to build a number of new prisons. No private company is going to invest that kind of money, under National's privatisation plans.

Mr O'Connor said the Labour-led Government was not spending money on luxury items for prisoners.

"It costs Corrections $4 a day to feed each prisoner, and under-floor heating and flat screen TVs are cheaper and safer than the alternatives. The Government also negotiated last year an overdue pay increase for Corrections Officers.

"The truth is, the Labour-led Government built new prisons. That costs money. We have spent $1 billion on new prisons and 2400 extra beds, and these new buildings come with increased depreciation costs, as anyone with a modicum of finance knowledge knows.

"The sad thing for New Zealand taxpayers is that if the National Party had been responsible throughout the 1990s and spent money when it was needed, the average costs would have gone up in a more gradual manner over time.

ENDS