Kia ora,
Over the past month I've been able to visit a range of Corrections facilities around the country and meet with staff - a part of my role that I really enjoy. It's always good to see first hand the work that's underway and hear from staff, whose hands-on experience means their input is always valuable.
At Auckland Prison I visited some of the Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) industries on site - the pre-cast concrete yard and the engineering and joinery workshops. I also had a tour of the nursery and Living Earth compost packing facility on site. The CIE schemes are really great initiatives as they provide prisoners with the skills to take up meaningful jobs when they are released. The evidence is clear that employment can make all the difference to a prisoner's chances of successful reintegration once he or she is released.
I am pleased that prisoner reintegration has been strengthened now that prison-based reintegration teams are fully staffed around the country. The teams work alongside existing services to ensure prisoners' basic needs (employment, accommodation and finances) are met before release from prison.
Another recent Auckland visit took me to the Probation Service's Manurewa Service Centre where I talked to staff about their roles managing the full range of sentences.
I also met with John McCarthy from SAFE, to discuss the delivery of community-based treatment and interventions to address child sexual offending.
I was pleased to be able to visit Christchurch Men's Prison to open their drug treatment unit on 10 October. This is the third such unit around the country, adding to the facilities already operating at Waikeria and Arohata. Three more will be built over the next two years.
During a regional visit to Wanganui I opened the new health unit at Wanganui Prison and met with staff. I had great pleasure in presenting Long Service medals to Corrections Officers there, acknowledging their dedication and hard work.
I was impressed with the results being achieved by a graffiti removal programme I visited in Hawke's Bay recently. People get fed up with graffiti blighting their communities, so there is great support for projects like this around the country. Offenders sentenced to community service carry out the graffiti removal work. The project has been organisd by the Community Probation Service in partnership with local Police, Housing New Zealand and the Safer Community Council. It's great to see these sorts of partnerships working so effectively together and I applaud everyone involved for their commitment to making them succeed.
The Minister of Corrections, Hon Damien O'Connor
Minister of Corrections Hon. Damien O’Connor (right) on site at Auckland
Prison with Prison Engineering Sector Manager Grant Henderson.
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ISSN 1178-8453