22 July 2015

Key needs to refer SERCO scandal to Ombudsman

The Green Party is calling on John Key to refer the SERCO prison scandal to the Ombudsman given there is no other proper agency to investigate the matter.

“As Prime Minister, John Key has the statutory power to refer the SERCO prison debacle to the Ombudsman’s office under Section 13(5) of the Ombudsmen Act,” said Green Party corrections spokesperson David Clendon.

“Given John Key is refusing to unequivocally back his Minister, the Green Party believes the responsible action for him to take would be to refer SERCO to be investigated by an independent watchdog.

“The Ombudsman’s office has the expertise and power to look into the matter.

“It is important for the public to have faith in the corrections systems and that will not happen if Corrections investigates itself.

“One report investigation into SERCO was already buried, we don’t need another to be buried in the similar vein.

“Corrections is implicated in this scandal and is not an independent Ministry and Sam Lotu-Iiga can’t keep his story straight, so how can we trust either of them to be honest with the public?

“The Ombudsman’s office is the most appropriate place for this investigation, not an internal job by Corrections who are already in the firing line over SERCO,” said Mr Clendon.

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