I can smell the Uranium from here – the obscenity of ACC owning private prison just got worse
You might think that ACC owning 33% of Serco’s private prison at Wiri was obscene enough. That a Government agency would generate revenue directly from the incarceration of citizens is a recipe for disaster, especially as we near 10 000 NZers in prison for the first time in our history. To do it with a private corporation that has an appalling human rights record, runs brutal detention camps for the Australians and has been corruptly caught out wrongfully invoicing other Governments makes this obscenity an abomination.
The icing on the cake was Serco having one of their prisons taken off them because of fight club fights, assaults and stand over tactics.
But it gets worse.
So much more worse…
ACC defends investing with Serco
ACC, which has a $33 billion investment fund to pay for the medical treatments it provides, invested in 2012 with Serco Group and two others to create Secure Future Wiri, which would build and run the prison, which is now know as South Auckland Correctional Facility.
This was despite Serco being on ACC’s investment exclusion list since May 2008 because of its involvement in nuclear arms.
Serco was involved in a joint venture with the British government to run some of its nuclear bases and ACC has a policy not to invest in companies with connections to the manufacturing of nuclear arms.
…laugh it up NZers, you’ve allowed a corrupt private corporation with appalling human rights to make money out of incarceration along with Government Departments and that corrupt corporation also make money out of nuclear weapons.
I can smell the Uranium from here.
New Zealanders, thanks to 30 years of neoliberalism, have lost any ideological compass. So when the Government suggests free market solutions in prisons, housing, education and welfare, the sleepy hobbits of NZ shrug and nod. The reality is these public services are so essential and so important to social justice and combating inequality that they can’t be left to a corporation whose interest is profit above any other value.
Only when we as NZers realise this, can we demand real change and policy that has a positive outcome rather than a damaged one.
Bloody hell !!!
Kick out the Nats to stop this snowballing madness!!
yes, however if the ones that replace them are of a similar disposition, are we better off?
at least Labour have a social agenda unlike the tories
hi michelle, i think it is a vote catcher for labour to say an end to private prisons and private schools.
Lets not forget 1998 when National allowed AON and Catalyst to manage ACC long term claimants files – which resulted in 14000 plus injured people being shafted onto WINZ – the interfered with the assessment process to make it happen. We know of 3 claimants who managed to get back on ACC and all three were given “hush” money – one claimant was given $1.7 million dollars plus what he was owed as in ERC and interest! AON and Catalyst need to be investigated. We are paying ACC levies only to be looked after by winz so paying ACC for what?
ACC royally ripped a friend of mine off from receiving even close to what she should have. She did not get the support she needed, no where near.
The horror stories involving ACC are massive and kept secret and not well publicized.
They ripped me off from proper support after a horrific auto accident.
I now regret having anything to do with them.
They have a reputation for not settling properly with those in need.
ACC also has a reputation for putting profits and CEO salaries before people.
They are extremely stressful to deal with and not good at problem solving.
So it is no surprise that they want to profit from prisons and continue the privatization nightmares. Privatization is not the solution and creates many more problems than most are aware of. The smell of greed is overwhelming at ACC.
+100…there needs to be an inquiry as to how this organisation is ripping off New Zealanders
I totally agree. Any takers for doing the research about how to start this inquiry process ? Tons Of NZ’ers, I am sure, would jump on board to help support and expose a very crooked and greedy organization. Sure they help a bit but when it comes to really being there and really listening to their clients, they fall very short.
Again, greed can be smelled and witnessed and I feel it needs to be exposed and brought out into the open. To diminish pay outs and reduce proper compensation is their goal.
Yes agree ACC are ripping people of from there entitlements but NZers need to stop voting for this nasty Nats party. They are spending our taxes on investing in corporate companies while at them same time cutting and reducing our entitlements to social insurance. John Miller (ACC lawyer) has been fighting ACC for the working and poor people. Google John Miller and you will see he has up to 1000 cases on his books and much of this is kept quiet why? because our country is in such a mess under the incompetent govt we have.
Yes agree ACC are ripping people of from there entitlements but NZers need to stop voting for this nasty Nats party. They are spending our taxes on investing in corporate companies while at them same time cutting and reducing our entitlements to social insurance. John Miller (ACC lawyer) has been fighting ACC for the working and poor people. Google John Miller and you will see he has up to 1000 cases on his books and much of this is kept quiet why? because our country is in such a mess under the incompetent govt we have.
Given the:
Warner Bros deal
That SERCO got the big payola to run our jails when clearly they had no idea what they were doing
And after being found out badly at Mt Eden they still retain Wiri
The SkyCity casino deal that was skin crawlingly dodgy to say the least, done over a piss up lunch and led by our PM no less
And that is the bottom scraping standard set by our Prime Minister and our government then should anyone be surprised that government departments are doing immoral deals with SERCO?
If Key could get away with doing coke deals with Mexican drug cartels he would, fuck it, money is money and it’s probably only the itsy bitsy little detail of it being utterly illegal and a major criminal offence that deters him, just!
Labour /Greens NZ First need to all declare to “Re Nationalise” all these privatised/monetised these “essential ” services or more rot will destroy us all.
Yes agree ACC are ripping people of from there entitlements but NZers need to stop voting for this nasty Nats party. They are spending our taxes on investing in corporate companies while at them same time cutting and reducing our entitlements to social insurance. John Miller (ACC lawyer) has been fighting ACC for the working and poor people. Google John Miller and you will see he has up to 1000 cases on his books and much of this is kept quiet why? because our country is in such a mess under the incompetent govt we have.
see john Miller and what Acc have been up to
Ironical that it was the Lange government which introduced extreme neo-liberalism to New Zealand in the first place
Gee Mr Pineapples that’s line is a bit worn out whose been running our country for the last 8yrs
This country is stuffed! 🙁 decades of rotten management have finished it. So young people where else to go? The rest of the World is stuffed too. There’s no escape. Meaning the good times are well and really gone! 🙁
If ACC has spare money, drop the premiums. If ACC has spare money, pay people what they are actually owed in payouts.
National, ACT, United Future and the Maori Party are all responsible for this despicable mess and Despicable Key is the ringleader of this corruption of the state.
Your vehicle reggo got cheaper. Something about ‘ACC isn’t quite as broke as we thought. Aren’t we just the kindest, most generous government ever? Those Others would have ripped you off. The Tax and Spend lot. You know who they are. Remember us next year…’
And the ‘normal wear and tear’ BS has been running since the days of Shipley, at least. WINZ was slightly more humane in those days, however. A smidgen, or less.
If you think that’s bad, based on what happened in Ashburton with water theft from New Zealanders, watch the neoliberals institute water-tight [sic.] ways of stealing water from Kiwis by taking away democracy (like they did with Environment Canterbury).
CCO’s are the next theft cab off the neoliberal ranks. It’ll make supercities look like a chimps’ tea party