Much to applaud in Maori Party prison policy

New Zealand prison rates at an all-time high

RNZ

Our prison population is now at its highest ever and it demands we ask if punishment is the only tool we have left because the lack of safe environments makes rehabilitation unlikely.

Te Pati Māori released their prison policy and there is much to laud…

Te Pāti Māori’s justice policy includes establishing a Māori Justice Authority and shutting down youth residences and the Government’s controversial military-style bootcamps. The party said it would repeal many of the Government’s new punitive justice laws, reinstate voting rights for people in prison, increase the Steps to Freedom payment from $300 to $1000, require police to wear body cameras and bring back funding for section 27 cultural reports.

NZ Herald

 

…the headline however was this…

Election 2026: Te Pāti Māori to campaign on abolishing prisons, Labour dead-set against it

NZ Herald

…so let’s go through what is being proposed before we scare everyone with the radical.

Creating a Māori Justice Authority is wise, especially when you consider 52% of prisoners and 66% of female prisoners are Māori, despite Māori making up only 17.5% of the population.

Shutting down youth residences and the bootcamps is fine but there has to be new facilities created to be able to house these kids.

Repealing the more draconian legislation  the Right have passed is reasonable with the prison muster so high and giving prisoners back their right to vote is about human rights.

Increasing the payment on release from $300 to $1000 is practical and will give released prisoners more chances of staying straight.

Requiring Police to wear body cameras makes everyone safer and Cultural Reports give Judges more discretion when sentencing.

These are all excellent proposals, in terms of abolishing prisons themselves, I think that is unlikely.

I think most can be forgiven for crimes in the heat of the moment or out of desperation, but the sadistic, malicious and professionally criminal  must be punished by having their liberty removed.

However, in terms of being aspirational, abolishing prisons absolutely should be a lofty goal and as Rawiri himself points out…

“If You’re Not Trying To Abolish Prisons In Aotearoa, What Are You Doing In Parliament?” – Rawiri Waititi

…and he’s right. We should want a system that heals and restores the damage caused by crime, instead we have a system of punishment that takes damaged men and makes them monsters.

90% of what Te Pati Māori are suggesting here is brilliant, the abolition of Prisons however will overshadow that really positive policy.