The aftermath of the damage to Waikeria Prison after six days of rioting, which included lighting fires. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The aftermath of the damage to Waikeria Prison after six days of rioting, which included lighting fires. Photo / Brett Phibbs
EDITORIAL
The sort of actions taken by the 16 rioting prisoners who destroyed the top jail at Waikeria Prison should never be condoned.
During the six-day standoff, these rioting prisoners lit fires and threw debris at Department of Corrections staff, forcing the evacuation of the top jail. No evidence is forthcoming to confirm these inmates had exhausted, let alone tried, other means to raise their concerns.
The colour of the drinking water and substandard conditions were flagged in an Ombudsman's report last year. Other claims include unclean bedding and prisoners being fed food from paper bags.
The department has conceded the prison wasn't exactly an exemplary facility, with Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot saying work has been done to improve conditions at the prison since the August Ombudsman's report. The closure of the top jail was reportedly imminent, with a replacement facility due to be finished next year.
Once the riot - or protest, if you prefer - was under way, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis should have acted, or at least be seen to be acting, much sooner.
Davis has pointed out many of the men involved are gang members. That may be so, but not addressing this sort of action as it occurs could be interpreted in any number of ways. Condemnation should have been voiced, in the clearest of terms.
Questions also hover over how Corrections handled his incident from the outset when it took New Zealand media to inform an apparently oblivious department a protest action was planned.
The Waikeria Prison, near Te Awamutu, ablaze on January 2 as prisoners continued to riot. Screengrab / Newshub
Conversely, Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi acquitted himself well in noting offenders deserve to be treated in a humane way but must serve the time for their crimes. In this way, Waititi did well to align his party with its support base, which is overly represented in prisons.
National MPs Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger and Corrections spokesman Simeon Brown did exactly what an Opposition should do in these sort of circumstances, questioning the Government's response, or lack of it.
The last major New Zealand prison riot, at Spring Hill in 2013, was resolved within nine hours, paling in comparison to the Waikeria unrest. Waikeria is now the longest and potentially most destructive riot at any New Zealand jail for decades.
It's not immediately clear how much the chaos will cost taxpayers, but the Spring Hill riot caused $10 million in damage.
Two reviews have been commissioned to overlook the rioting event, Lightfoot now says.
The first is an operational review by the chief custodial officer and should be completed within three months. The second is a wider review by the office of the chief inspector and should be completed within six to nine months.
The minister should also take a moment to review his part in this.
No, our prisons are not acceptable by many standards, but this kind of behaviour cannot be condoned and to do nothing - whether the facility is due to be decommissioned or not - is to set dangerous new boundaries for others to test.
