After prisoner beatings, stand over tactics, fight clubs, rape, falsification of information to hide these abuses and death we are now seeing the real horror of the SERCO deal.
Despite all these terrible abuses SERCO has made $8million in bonuses. That’s right, fight clubs and rape and death gets them bonuses based on information SERCO are supplying despite them already getting pinged for falsifying those stats. That’s how bad the bloody deal National agreed to when they green lighted these private prison experiments, we pay even when SERCO screw up!
Don’t forget these are BONUSES – this is ON TOP of what SERCO are earning in fees. Part of the deal is that we pay SERCO for every bed in Wiri regardless of it being full or not. The incentive is to fill it because we are paying for them anyway.
MEANWHILE – prison populations explode. We hit our highest level of prisoners locked up despite crime rates falling. Judith has had to rush in and pledge another $15million to keep the public prisons from falling over but feeding this prison industrial complex is the wrong approach!
We are now gaining a secondary prisoner population. These are prisoners who were caught up in the ‘get tough on crime’ crap that occurred in the early 2000s. They could not admit their crimes, have received zero counselling inside prison, and have now served their entire sentence. Because they’ve had no counselling at all, many of these men are being released after being locked up for a full 10 year plus sentence and they are more damaged than when they went in. The Government know this and instead of acknowledging the ‘get tough on crime’ crap has produced a deformed counter productive outcome, they simply pass law to extend the sentences and keep these men locked up indefinitely.
We have allowed National to build an empire of suffering from the privatisation of prisons. When fear and anger warp social policy the product is a harvest of spite.
Three strikes, slaves for life.
And who is going to undo this deep stain on our national psyche, this criminal action aggravating injustice, condemning individuals and families to intergenerational misery, sexual depravity and further violence.
After listening to Grant Robertson recently joining in with Bill English’s accolade on NACT’s performance, I have no faith in Labour having the balls to turn this investor state travesty around. Hollow words from the opposition.
When is Neo liberal chicanery not transparent. Our politicians have sold their souls to corporate control and factory farming of crime for foreign corporate profit. Corruption by back-door deals is rife.
Independent reporting to the public is non existent. Collusion of the media is plain with the unbalanced presentation of information and reporting of unchallenged lies from corporate mouth pieces as valid opinion, exposing the public to further accepting private corporate interests as being the future.
Change will only be affected by organised opposition on a massive scale.
We have lost control and this situation will only get worst, becoming the new normal. Lies and spin from politicians just mark time allowing the next step in corporate criminal profiteering to escalate, increasing cost to NZ financially, socially and ideologically; building constructive dismissal of most values we hold dear.
NACT and their ilk know they can get away with lies and actions of draconian insult to social equality and fraternity relegating those ideal to myth status. We allow them to do this because we are not organised to oppose it.
An attack on the very fabric of our society and where are our defences. Where is our protection from corrupt Govt.
“fear and anger warp social policy the product is a harvest of spite.”
Well said martyn.
And the final nail as they carry out their policy of “DEVIDE AND RULE” SOCIAL ENGINNERING POLICY AS HITLER DID.
It amuses me that neo-liberals don’t understand that their ideology ends up encouraging criminality. When you beat people down economically, and they’re left desperate and struggling, eventually they arrive at the conclusion that they have no options left. And so they get angry, and frustrated, and overwhelmed by despair, because no matter how hard they try, it’s never, ever enough. The odds are stacked so steeply against them that they lose all hope. And when you’ve nothing left to lose, you just don’t care very much anymore…
I think the neo-liberals understand – but they are sociopaths.
I think they do understand it, but since it creates an underclass and someone to blame for everything that goes wrong, they are perfectly comfortable with it. The rich and privileged always need people to look down on.
Don’t worry Miss Oravida is coming to the rescue!
Crusher will sort SERCO out.
Probably by providing the inmates powder based milk for their Weetbix in the morning.
The Serco contract must be about the worst contract that a New Zealand government has ever signed. National were well and truly conned. It seems that Serco could virtually name their own price, terms and conditions and it was signed off by National without a second thought.
And National are supposed to be great economic managers!
I hope nobody ever offers to sell them the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bridges ?…. Bridges?…
Shhhhhhh !!! don’t mention that word around National – the memory’s still too painful with the association of what happened in Northland.
They’re still hoping the memory will ‘ Peter ‘ out in the public’s recollection as well…
Meanwhile the guy who was supposed to be ‘ too old’ to take that electorate is quite comfortable and the people like him , I’m told…
Does anyone remember the Star Trek Voyager first episode where one of the crew was brought out of an international penal colony to serve in the Voyager starship? That fictional penal colony was in New Zealand! (funny that!)
Given National’s love of prisons and love of privatising everything, perhaps that is our country’s future – to incarcerate the world’s crims as well as our own.
When you think about it New Zealand would be the ideal place for an international penal colony with a generally temperate climate and thousands of kilometres from anywhere.
Would also be a good stable economy too, no worry about fluctuating dairy prices and there would always be a steady stream of inmates. The only problem would be if crime rates dropped, but if that happened then it would only be a matter of changing a few laws here and there.
I’m sure National wouldn’t have a problem with that since they do it now whenever it suits them.
I’m sure National also wouldn’t mind having their bosom buddy Serco in charge of it. Hey, while they are running the penal colony why not save time and money and get them to run the whole justice system as well? They do such a great job, so we are told, so it is a no-brainer, right?
In case you are wondering, yes I am being a sarcastic b…
I think it is Holland that is filling their prisons from other countries. But the reason they are able to do this is because they dont have enough criminals of their own! Oh, thats right – they decrminalised marijuana. Says it all really.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/netherlands-fills-empty-jails-with-inmates-from-norway-as-falling-crime-rates-leave-more-guards-than-10081010.html
I think National’s slogan is more like:
“We are taking everything. Seriously. All of it. Oh, and f**k you.”
You aint seen nothing yet I’m afraid. All the prisons around the country are being upgraded as I speak, in readiness for SERCO taking them over. Millions are being spent with Honeywell Ltd particularly, so that SERCO can just step in. In Low/medium security prisons where there has been no issue with inmates, security is being beefed up to the same as Maximum and all coming out of taxpayers pocket. Why?
As your article says, nothing spent on counselling – nothing at all. A favoured few get on a Drug and Alcohol programme. Even that has been shortened to three months in some places instead of original planned six months programme.
Cant someone go to Holland and see what it is that they are doing right??
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