This follows Kelvin Davis tweeting earlier today that SERCO is entitled to $1.2 million in performance related bonuses.
Labour's corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis talks about Serco on NBR Radio and on demand on MyNBR Radio.
To build your own NBR Radio playlist and enjoy instant on-demand access to any audio, sign up for our FREE smartphone-only subscription to NBR ONLINE.
UPDATED: Corrections takes over Mt Eden prison from Serco
Labour’s corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis has applied more pressure on the government to give Serco the boot.
This follows Mr Davis tweeting earlier today that Serco is entitled to $1.2 million in performance-related bonuses.
“I say give it to the people who have been abused in Serco’s care,” Mr Davis tweeted.
Mr Davis tells NBR Radio the private prison experiment has been an utter failure in New Zealand.
He says the government should have known better, as Serco has a “dodgy reputation” overseas.
“[The government] should have read the tea leaves and never even gone there with Serco,” he says.
He says Labour is fundamentally opposed to any privatisation agreement and, if the party were to win government next election, it would not bring any private operators into the system.
“We believe it’s the Crown who denies people their liberty and the Crown has the responsibility to look after those people when they’re in prison.
“This is New Zealand, not Guantanamo Bay. We can’t have this sort of stuff going on here in our country in 2015.”
Corrections Department boss Ray Smith says he will announce a decision about Serco’s contract this afternoon, following a meeting with Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-liga today.
Mr Lotu-liga has been under fire since revelations of a ‘fight club’ and other unsavoury activates were revealed in Auckland’s Mt Eden prison.
After a ‘please explain’ meeting with Serco bosses, Mr Lotu-liga told Parliament he was not made aware of other incidents or attacks at the prison.
But Mr Davis says he has received letters from prisoners, informing him of multiple instances at the prison and say he sent the letters to Mr Lotu-liga.
“Serco has not been forthcoming with the information with all the incidents, so it was hard for us to jump up and down about it when we weren’t aware of the extent because they were hiding stuff from us.”
He says it is difficult to get a clear picture of what’s happening because Serco is a private company, which rules out an OIA request.
To build your own NBR Radio playlist and enjoy instant on-demand access to any audio, sign up for our FREE smartphone-only subscription to NBR ONLINE.
