Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis has denied Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki’s claims that the Government has stifled his attempts for the church to work in prisons. He echoed comments made earlier by Justice Minister Andrew Little, who said Destiny had never actually made a formal application to partner with the Government to work in prisons. Read more
Less than a third of the country’s prisons provide intensive Māori-focused rehabilitation. That’s despite Māori making up more than half of the country’s prison population. Former prisoners were calling for more Māori content across the board in prison. Only five out of the country’s 18 prisons offer Te Tirohanga, a rehabilitation course tailored for Māori Read more
I was born in 1951, at a time when New Zealand’s crime and prison numbers were incredibly low, averaging one or two homicides a year until the early 1960s say Garth McVicar. So what went wrong? The one common denominator – that Mr Little and his colleagues won’t dare talk about – is the traditional Read more
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki is lashing out at the Government, saying its prison policy is “not working” – and accusing Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis of ignoring him. Read more
The Salvation Army is in favour of fewer people in prison. They say the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, should put his money where his mouth is and to scrap the planned mega-prison. Rather than incarcerating people, the Salvation Army says the money is better spent on re-integration programmes. Former Justice Minister Judith Collins has sent Read more
Despite crime rates falling overall, the prison population in New Zealand has tripled since 1985 and is likely to reach a record 10,000 people next year. Corrections is also unlikely to meet its composite target of reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017. Post-prison reoffending rates have barely changed in the past 10 years. Read more
Dunedin’s Methodist Mission has begun a literacy and numeracy programme at the Otago Corrections Facility in Milburn that it says is ”much more powerful” than classroom learning. The organisation began the courses at the prison this week, after winning a contract with the Department of Corrections. Te Wananga o Aotearoa secured a contract to deliver Read more
A group of students from St Thomas of Canterbury College high school in Christchurch who created a detailed report on young people in custody in New Zealand say they wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. The six students from St Thomas of Canterbury College have produced a 40 page report based on data Read more
An interdenominational Christian Ministry, The Fortress of Faith, welcomed three newly qualified prison ministry spiritual counsellors at a ceremony at their Moto’otua base last Friday. The Fortress of Faith founder, Ruta Poulos, told the Sunday Samoan that this is the second year of the programme. The first training was conducted by Pastors from Hawai’i, the Read more
While spending a week fasting in a makeshift prison to push for penal reform, it was the dream of a curry laksa that kept the Anglican Bishop of Wellington going. Bishop Justin Duckworth emerged from the prayer vigil for prisoners and associated victims yesterday and, after delivering a sermon, headed straight to a Ghuznee St Read more