March 22, 2018
Waikeria build poor use of putea
Justice reform group Just Speak says going ahead with the Waikeria mega-prison means investing another billion dollars in a failed rehabilitation model.
The Government is considering whether it should go ahead with the previous National Government's plan to build the 3000-bed prison.
Just Speak chair Julia Whaipooti says once it's finished, the government will have to turn around and build another because prison beds will inevitably be filled, despite falling crime rates.
"What we know has been put out by Corrections is that prisons are a good place to rehabilitate and if they can build this new prison extension, they will be in a better position to rehabilitate. That has proven untrue in every prison they have created and prisons shouldn't be the starting point of habilitations. There are other places we can invest putea to respond to criminal harm," she says.
Ms Whaipooti says it's a defining issue for a Government with such a large number of Maori MPs, given the majority of those who will be locked up are likely to be Maori.
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