Thursday, 29 July, 2004

Corrections policy will be Minister's Swain song

Corrections Minister Paul Swain has the interests of criminals and the public back to front, United Future law and order spokesman Marc Alexander said today.

In a debate in Parliament last night over management of prison inmates, Mr Swain shrugged off Mr Alexander's suggestion to 'double bunk' criminals. Being prone to violence, putting them together may put them at risk, reasoned the Minister.

"So, the Minister is reluctant to put these criminals at risk of being hurt - yet his policies effectively do the same thing by releasing them through the parole provisions (at up to a two-thirds discount on their sentence), and putting the public at risk.

"The public effectively gets 'double-bunked' with offenders every time they're released, and frankly if their level of socialisation is such that they can't be in a cell with another individual, then it says something about how ready they are for release.

"Obviously this Minister cares more for the physical well-being of burglars, rapists, murders and paedophiles than the well-being of the law-abiding and innocent individuals of our communities," Mr Alexander said.

ENDS

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