The corrections system is a vital component of a society which is safe and lives under the rule of law.
The job that those working within it do is a difficult one, dealing with individuals who have offended, often seriously, against others in the community.
For the wider public, offenders, once processed through the justice system, are out of sight and out of mind.
Corrections has the role of securely containing those who may be a threat to society in a firm but fair way. And where the system can make a difference in turning people’s lives and behaviour around, it needs to do so.
It is important that the corrections system is fully accountable and subject to scrutiny.
But there also needs to be balance in coverage given to it. Few in the public arena are probably aware that in the last decade or so prison escapes have dropped significantly. The number of escapes is only 13 per cent of what it was in 1992 (down from a peak of 145 then to around 20). Or to put it another way, there were around eight times as many escapes in 1992 as there are now.
Little attention is paid to the dramatic reduction in prisoners’ positive drug tests from 30 per cent in 1999 to 14 per cent in 2006. Assaults within prison and suicides have been significantly reduced.
I want to pay tribute to Corrections management and staff for doing a difficult job really well. We owe you our gratitude. Those who do not behave appropriately are a tiny minority, as in any walk of life, and need to be given zero tolerance.
As Justice Minister I promoted tough sentencing and parole legislation, which imposed much longer sentences on the worst offenders, and for parole, required the safety of the community to be the paramount consideration.
Those decisions were and are appropriate to protect society and to do justice for victims. Regrettably, for many there is no alternative to imprisonment. However, New Zealand has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the Western World and we should not celebrate that. Where there are safe alternative options to imprisonment through which prisoners can repay their debt to society we should use them.
Better still, where we can work proactively to prevent offending or re-offending such as through early intervention, promoting work habits, and through addiction treatment, that should be given priority.
There are no quick or easy solutions to the problem of offending nor are there changes that will guarantee the corrections system will get it right on every occasion.
I look forward to working with Corrections staff to meet the challenges within the corrections portfolio and the wider social problems which contribute to them.
Thank you.
Hon Phil Goff
Minister of Corrections
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ISSN 1178-8453