10 May 2007

New prisons not sustainable

Green MP Metiria Turei is pleased to see an improvement in facilities, but saddened at the continued need to build more and more prisons after attending the opening of the Otago Correction Facility in Milton today.

"If we continue down this route we are locking New Zealand into a situation where we will have to pour endless sums of money into prison construction," Mrs Turei says.

"The Greens do not support building new prisons except where they replace existing, degraded options. This new prison certainly does that, in replacing the archaic Dunedin prison. After a recent visit to Dunedin Prison I was shocked at the conditions the prisoners have to live in. I was especially concerned at the extremely poor facilities for visiting families.

"However, this new prison is significantly larger than the old one which causes some concern. I acknowledge the need for more beds due to overcrowding, but the overcrowding is a direct result of this Government's and other opposition parties' obsession with the rhetoric of being tough on crime while touting policies that fail to address crime reduction.

"The Greens believe the current legal system is failing both victims and offenders. It's time to look at alternatives like a restorative justice system.

"We are working with the Government and other parties on ways to decrease recidivism and support better rehabilitation and habilitation. Early intervention is a key issue, as is providing real alternatives so that prisoners leave prison with options and the ability to reintegrate into society," Mrs Turei says.

"No new prisons should need to be built, because it's time to focus on reducing our imprisonment rate. New prisons do not come cheaply, and while the financial cost to the taxpayer has been high, the societal cost of locking people up ad infinitum is even higher.

"It does New Zealand absolutely no credit to have the second highest imprisonment rate in the Western world."

ENDS

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