Simon Power MP
National Party Justice & Corrections Spokesman

19 August 2007

Are half of NZ’s prisons falling down?

Corrections Minister Damien O’Connor needs to assure the public that New Zealand’s prisons are secure, given that more than half need to be replaced, decommissioned or refurbished, says National’s Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power.

He is releasing an answer to a Vote Corrections Estimates question which says: ‘Corrections assessment of its current prison capacity indicates that more than half of it is below standard and needs to be replaced, decommissioned or refurbished by 2014/15’ at an estimated capital cost of $1.2 billion.

“This is surprising, given that they have opened three new prisons in the past two years, with another due to open next year. The others must be in a bit of a mess if half the capacity needs refurbishment at best, and replacement at worst.

“It’s also very concerning, because in addition to that work, the prison population is close to a crunch point.

“The growth in prisoner numbers continues unabated. The most recent forecast for 2007 was upgraded by 201 to 7,758, but by May this year that had already been exceeded by 131 with still four months to go till the seasonal peak in September.

“That’s 331 more prisoners than they were forecasting in 2005, and that’s more than the capacity of most of our existing prisons.

“Damien O’Connor needs to explain how he is going to deal with this, given that he keeps denying they are planning another prison.

“He recently said there was ‘sufficient capacity in the short to medium-term based on the current forecast’, but the problem is the current forecast has been superseded.

“The Minister needs to assure the public he is not going to let more dangerous prisoners into the community.

“The public will not tolerate crimes committed by people who should be behind bars but who are let into the community on schemes like E-bail and home detention.

“It’s time Mr O'Connor and Justice Minister Mark Burton explained what they are going to do about preventing more disasters in our justice system, and more compensation claims from prisoners jammed into decaying prisons.”

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