Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins has welcomed a reassurance from Corrections Minister Judith Collins that the Rimutaka prison will not privatised, despite the government passing a new law under Urgency last week that gives it the power to do so.
“During debate on the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Bill I challenged the Minister to confirm whether or not the Rimutaka prison would be handed over to a private company to run if the law was passed. The Minister gave me an absolute assurance that Rimutaka would remain under public control,” Chris Hipkins said.
“When I surveyed constituents earlier this year the overwhelming majority said that they were opposed to letting a private company operate the Rimutaka prison. Local residents do not want a privatised prison on their back door step so I’m pleased that the Minister has taken that feedback on board.
“However, although I’m pleased that our local prison has escaped the clutches of the National/ACT government’s privatisation agenda, I’m still really concerned that the government’s new law gives it the power to privatise prisons around the country on a wholesale basis.
“This decision flies in the face of all of the evidence. Prisons run by private contractors are more expensive to run and do nothing to reduce the rate of re-offending. When the Auckland Central Remand Prison was run by a private contractor it cost $7,000 more per prisoner each year to run than comparable prisons in the public sector.
“International evidence from overseas also shows that in many cases offenders who have served their sentence in a private prison are more likely to re-offend than those who have been housed in public prisons.
“Restorative justice programs will also suffer because the private firms operating the prison would have no wider responsibility to society. Profit would become the primary motivator, creating an incentive to keep prisoners locked up rather than focusing on rehabilitation and reintegration,” Chris Hipkins said.
“International experience has also raised real and legitimate concerns about cost-cutting leading to staff and public safety being compromised.
“Overseas evidence also shows huge flaws in private prison systems, ranging from bribery, corruption, increased violence, increased drug abuse, and avoidable suicides. Despite overwhelming evidence that proves privatising prisons will not lead to better outcomes, the National government are pushing ahead anyway.
“Let’s be clear about this. This is the National government finding another way to transfer the taxes of hard-working Kiwis to private sector corporates.
“Labour fundamentally believes that running prisons is a core business and responsibility of the state. Privatising is the government’s way of abdicating responsibility for Corrections issues,” Chris Hipkins said.
