KEY POINTS:
Criminals can blame National for no longer being able to play violent video games in prison.
Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor confirmed in Parliament yesterday that PlayStation and Xbox games were taken off prisoners after the National Party asked questions about them.
"Most of those PlayStations were in the youth units. The question did prompt the department to look at its policy," Mr O'Connor said.
"We do not have a policy covering this area and management decided to withdraw those PlayStations until an appropriate policy could be developed."
National Party Corrections spokesman Simon Power said there had been 11 PlayStation and Xbox game consoles at Rimutaka, Waikeria and Ngawha prisons that cost $5000. The 58 games the prisons had available included violence and use of weapons ranging from guns to chainsaws.
Mr O'Connor said: "It's far better to have the games than the real thing."
He said a proper policy needed to be established.
"I think it appropriate we have a proper policy regarding those areas. No doubt at some stage before TVs and before cassettes were allowed in prisons some may have had the same attitude as Mr Power.
"The reality is that technology has moved ahead of policy, that's why we are about to look at the policy and put a new one in place."
Mr Power also questioned how Mr O'Connor could have confidence in his department when its chief executive, Barry Matthews, had admitted to the Dominion Post last month that the year was an "annus horribilis".
Mr O'Connor said he disagreed that Corrections had a bad year despite high costs for prison construction and other issues such as cellphones for inmates.
"I don't necessarily agree with the CEO. They have done an outstanding job looking after more prisoners than we have ever had in this country before. They have reduced the rate of inmate assaults, they have reduced the rate of suicides within prisons."
Mr Power also asked who was paying for the Oxford sabbatical of Corrections' chief financial officer, John Ryan.
Mr O'Connor said Mr Ryan did an excellent job and it must have been "for a very good reason".
- NZPA
