Chief Executive Barry Matthews has thanked members of the Pacific Peoples Regional Corrections Liaison Committee for the service they have given over the past six years.
Barry says the Committee was established in 2000 to assist Corrections to build a strong relationship with the Pacific community in South Auckland during the consultation phases for the Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility and the Spring Hill Corrections Facility.
“With the opening of Auckland Women’s and construction nearing completion at Spring Hill, the Committee is now being disbanded,” says Barry.
“The Committee was invaluable to Corrections in developing the new facilities in the Northern Region and it helped ensure that both Spring Hill and Auckland Women’s are best-placed to provide for the needs of Pacific offenders and the Pacific community,” he says.
Barry says the Committee’s work was vital because Pacific offenders are disproportionately represented in New Zealand prisons.
“While Pacific people account for around six percent of the New Zealand population, they make up approximately ten percent of the prison population,” he says.
One of the Committee’s major contributions was the advice it provided Corrections in developing New Zealand’s first Pacific Focus Unit, which opens with the Spring Hill Corrections Facility in 2007.
“The Unit will incorporate cultural processes, concepts and imagery that are tailored to meet the specific need of Pacific prisoners. The Unit will also engender pride in the Pacific identity and culture to assist in motivating Pacific prisoners to participate in rehabilitation and reintegration programmes to reduce the likelihood of their re-offending,” says Barry.
“I am extremely grateful for the Committee’s contribution and they should be extremely proud of the contribution they have made to Corrections, the community and the country.”
A new Pacific group is being set up in the Waikato region and their focus will be on the commissioning of the Spring Hill Corrections Facility.
Members of the Pacific Peoples Regional Corrections Liaison Committee,
with Corrections Chief Executive Barry Matthews (front row, third from left).
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ISSN 1178-8453