20 September

1. An urgent application for an injunction to prevent almost all sentenced women prisoners being transferred out of Arohata Prison to other centres was heard this afternoon. The transfer would have the effect of removing key rehabilitation programmes for women and removing them from contact with their children and whānau. The Court issued a decision shortly after 6pm today, declining to stop the transfer of the women, which will begin tomorrow morning. The urgent nature of the application means the Court’s reasons will follow in a few days.
2. "We are grateful to the Court for accommodating this hearing at such short notice" says Amanda Hill, lawyer for the 8 women who brought the action. "We are devastated for the women who will be sent far away from their kids and whānau tomorrow, with no chance to even hug them goodbye. We are also devastated at the loss of the only specialist Drug Treatment Unit in the country for women, setting back the rehabilitation of dozens of women in prison".
3. The first transfer, of some 11 women, will occur tomorrow with further transfers on Thursday and again in the following weeks. All but a handful of sentenced women will be forced to leave Arohata, with the majority being transferred to Christchurch Women’s Prison. This is far outside the catchment area for Arohata Prison, which is the lower/central North Island, stretching up the East Coast.
4. Hill said that she and senior counsel, Victoria Casey KC, would be reviewing next steps carefully over the coming days.
5. "On Suffrage Day, of all days, we are deeply disappointed that Corrections will continue with this action which disadvantages the most vulnerable people in our community - Māori women and their tamariki” said Hill. “We urge Corrections to pause, rethink and reconsider the interests of these women who will be so severely impacted by this proposal”.

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