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The problems plaguing Rimutaka Prison are indicative of the kind of prison culture that allows corruption to brew, says Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews.
Such a culture is typified by prison staff turning a blind eye to possible illegal activity or supervisors not being thorough enough, he said.
The independent inquiry into Rimutaka was looking into prison staff and management, but also at whether the prison culture was a factor and needed to be changed.
The comments came in an interview last week before revelations that eight Rimutaka officers had been suspended and three others were facing the same fate.
Mr Matthews said he was not a great believer in the "'You'll get a few rotten apples' argument, which you will.
"But the general finding of Royal Commission corruption inquiries has been that it can only really ferment where you've got a culture that allows it to happen.
"Either people are turning a blind eye, or supervisors are not rigorous enough in overseeing or allowing honest staff to have an opportunity to come forward to safely report it.
"So when the first concerns were raised at Rimutaka, that was one of the reasons I went to get some external people in the inquiry."
Three officers have been suspended on suspicion of smuggling contraband to inmates - two surfaced through the inquiry, one predated it - and one for allegedly breaching the code of conduct.
Another four were suspended yesterday for allegedly allowing Trevor Robinson, a convicted rapist, to have conjugal visits while receiving medical care at Wellington Hospital.
The department said the incident suggested clear supervision instructions were not followed, which would be "completely unacceptable".
The officers face an employment investigation.
Robinson, from Masterton, is serving 11 years for the 1999 rape of a 16-year-old girl. He also admitted beating the girl's teenage male companion and the aggravated robbery of two women in their 60s.
Prison Fellowship of New Zealand national director Kim Workman, who has called for public support for the work Corrections does, said of the latest incident: "That's pretty slack stuff. They're really under the weather at the moment."
Several Rimutaka officers have reported a reluctance to approach the prison's crime prevention manager, Rachel Sayers, because she is in a long-standing relationship with acting prison manager Chris Smith.
Mr Workman said the culture could have shifted in recent years - before Mr Matthews took the helm - because of a large influx of prisoners and new staff.
"In the case of Rimutaka, it grew by 50 per cent in the last four years," he said.
"What seemed to happen was the pressure was unfairly focused on one prison. The dominant culture starts to dissipate. You end up promoting people possibly when they're not ready to be promoted to positions of responsibility. Some inmates are predators and they know when the system is vulnerable."
The department has come under intense scrutiny since high-profile cases such as budget blow-outs in building new prisons and the murders of Liam Ashley and Karl Kuchenbecker.
Corrections said it did not require extra staff - there are more than 400 officers at Rimutaka - to cover the suspensions.