Judith Collins is the new Minister of Corrections.
Prime Minister John Key announced her appointment to the role on 17 November.
Ms Collins is a highly qualified and experienced lawyer. She was a company director prior to being elected to the constituency seat of Clevedon in 2002.
Ms Collins holds a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws (with Honours) and Master of Taxation degrees from the University of Auckland.
She has more than 20 years experience as a lawyer and was chair of the Casino Control Authority, President of the Auckland District Law Society, Vice-President of the New Zealand Law Society and a public company director and chairperson before becoming an MP.
Corrections News has pleasure in introducing Ms Collins’ first bi-monthly column.
Tena koutou.
It is my pleasure to introduce myself to you as the new Minister of Corrections. I am looking forward to working with Corrections staff in the months and years ahead.
During my term as Minister, I’ll be taking every opportunity I can to visit Department of Corrections staff around the country and asking for their thoughts, suggestions and concerns. Feedback from frontline staff is important to me. Theirs is a difficult, but important job. They help make New Zealand a better, safer place to live.
Corrections should not be seen only as imprisonment and punishment, but an opportunity to rehabilitate offenders through programmes that offer an alternative to crime.
Since taking over as Minister, I have been impressed by the dedication, enthusiasm and willingness of the Department to explore new ways to help prisoners improve their lives and integrate back into society.
At Christchurch Women’s Prison, prisoners are learning skills in industries as diverse as catering and horticulture. Offenders serving community work are improving the lives of others by upgrading community gardens in Wellington. The Kia Marama programme continues to sponsor research into sex offending which is incorporated into groundbreaking new programmes for offenders.
They are all fantastic initiatives, and I congratulate everyone involved with them.
At the same time, we should be mindful of what the public expects of us. I believe that prisoners should be treated humanely, but prison facilities should reflect the fact that they are paying a debt to society.
I would like to take the opportunity to tell you a little about myself.
I live in South Auckland with my family. In addition to being Minister of Corrections, I am also Minister of Police and Minister of Veterans’ Affairs. Prior to becoming an MP, I was a lawyer and company director.
Recently I have been described as being tough on crime. It’s a title I wear proudly.
It is not possible to rehabilitate all prisoners, and some won’t want to take the opportunities we give them. For the hardened criminals who clearly present a threat to the community, this government will make it harder for them to be released or get bail.
This won’t make me popular in some quarters. But my first priority is to ensure the safety of the public of New Zealand and the security and wellbeing of all Department of Corrections staff.
We have a lot of work to do. I know I can count on the support and professionalism of Corrections staff. We cannot forget that we are here to serve the public and they expect nothing less.
Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Corrections
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ISSN 1178-8453