$1.5m iwi consultation too much: jail report

By KEVIN TAYLOR political reporter

The Corrections Department spent excessively on iwi consultation for the proposed north Waikato Spring Hill Prison, an internal report has found.

Corrections Minister Paul Swain yesterday promised greater scrutiny of such spending after releasing a report by department chief Mark Byers on consultation over the 650-bed, $250 million prison.

Opposition MPs say the $1.5 million paid to Waikato iwi groups and individuals to organise consultation and give the department cultural and technical advice was buying Maori support.

The report found that some iwi consultation costs were too high for the benefits received, too many people were involved early in the project, and some work could have been done in-house.

Mr Swain said it was "unacceptable" some consultation costs were too high. He would run a "justifiability ruler" over such spending in future.

"The scrutiny of taxpayers' money is going to be a lot tighter, as well as the management of the contracts."

Act MP Rodney Hide said the report revealed the true extent of the "Maori gravy train" and confirmed the existence of two sets of laws in New Zealand - one for Maori and one for non-Maori.

The Government has been under fire recently for spending $1.3 million on the consultation, but the report revealed the amount had now been refined and was $1.5 million.

It said questions over the contracts let to Tainui and other individuals were not new and were examined by a parliamentary select committee about two years ago.

The report also found:

* A $1 million project management contract to Jagcon - run by former department official John Hamilton - should have been tendered because of its size and to test the department's assumption he was the most suitable candidate. But the department did get "value for money".

* Prison site neighbour Lyn Milnes was not bullied when the department wrote to her over her plan to subdivide. She claims bullying but the department said that as a neighbour, it should have been notified of the subdivision.

* The department should have ended its contract with consultant Tom Moana, a former member of Tainui's executive, straight after it learned he was charged with fraud in late 2001. He was kept on until early 2002.

Mr Byers said yesterday that contracts between Maori and the department would not stop, but oversight would be tighter.

He said iwi might be contracted in future to deliver rehabilitation and education services in the new prisons, where a disproportionate percentage of inmates would be Maori.

Having more iwi, community and whanau involvement in the prisons would mean better outcomes in trying to change prisoner behaviour.

Mr Byers said the department bought "a whole pile of services" from Tainui and others. "We also had something of the order of 300 meetings with other people in the community."

Mr Swain said the department was criticised by the Environment Court for not consulting enough with Maori on the Northland prison, and it ended up spending $2 million on security.

"I think in the department's defence what they did was, after having had the criticisms, they probably bent over backwards and went slightly the other way."

Mr Swain has referred Mr Byers' report to the Auditor General, Race Relations Minister Trevor Mallard, and Associate Environment Minister David Benson-Pope, who is reviewing aspects of the Resource Management Act.

A Tainui spokesman said the tribal executive, Te Kaumarua, had no comment until their own internal inquiry into the contracts finished in mid-May.

Iwi consultation report

* Costs were too high for the benefits gained on some contracts.

* Too many people did similar work early in the project and some should have been done in-house.

* More reference checks should have been made on Tom Moana, paid more than $131,000 as a contractor by Corrections when he was facing fraud charges.

* A contract with Jagcon - run by former department official John Hamilton - for management services on the regional prisons project should have been tendered.

Where the money went

Between 1997 and 2004

* Tainui's Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust $524,109

* Buddy Mikaere $5867

* Tahi Ngakete $56,207

* Norman Hill $5843

* Tuti Cooper $34,012

* Rewi Thompson $138,996

* Saul Roberts $70,789

* Ngati Naho Co-operative Society $202,564

* Haydn Solomon $46,399

* Koha $577

* Kaitiaki Group $22,491

* Tommy Moana $131,753

* Pip Winiata $141,150

* Dave Mackey $3692

* Grant Hawke $123,664

* TOTAL: $1,508,113