Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks. A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had the radio on in … Read more
Who could have predicted the stand-off at Waikeria prison? Absolutely anyone, writes Emilie Rākete of People Against Prisons. The Waikeria uprising protesters have come down safely from the rubble of the prison unit they destroyed. The last smouldering embers have been extinguished. As a member of the prison abolitionist group People Against Prisons Aotearoa, I … Read more
Prisoner advocate Sir Kim Workman on how New Zealand’s human rights record has taken a battering, and the Māori-led measures that are actually working. The six-day stand-off between prisoners in Waikeria’s top jail and prison management partially destroyed a building already targeted for demolition. It was variously described as “a protest”, “an uprising”, “a riot”, … Read more
For 15 years justice advocate Roger Brooking has been campaigning for prison reform with an increasing sense of despair. Now, for the first time, he sees reasons to be hopeful. The Labour government is in a tricky situation with regard to justice reform. Justice Minister Andrew Little and Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis want to reduce … Read more
‘Nothing about us without us’ is becoming a popular catch cry of indigenous people the world over. Now the University of Otago is asking for Māori perspectives only on Māori incarceration. Earlier this year, the government announced it will spend $750 million to expand Waikeria prison by 500 beds; build 976 more beds at five different … Read more
In today’s Cheat Sheet, what exactly turns a prison into a mega-prison? And how do the just-announced plans for Waikeria Prison fit in? What’s all this then? Plans have finally been released for what’s going to happen at Waikeria Prison, the lockup near Ōtorohanga in the middle of the North Island. Under the previous government’s … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government will unveil plans for Waikeria Prison, Nicky Hager vindicated after unlawful police raid, and Auckland councillors getting restless about Goff. The government’s new plans for Waikeria Prison are set to finally be revealed today,reports Radio NZ. There has been endless back and forth on this since … Read more
It’s encouraging that members of this government finally seem to get it: prisons just don’t work. But what are they willing to do as an alternative, asks Tania Sawicki Mead of JustSpeak It arrived not with bang but a whisper. Plans for a billion dollar mega-prison at Waikeria, a development which would create the largest … Read more
Geopolitical commentator Graham Cameron looks at the lessons learned at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues over the past two weeks. Law professor Valmaine Toki is purported to have described the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as a “huge Waitangi Tribunal.” Did she mean unpopular, underfunded and ignored or an opportunity … Read more
This week a group of young Māori leaders are at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to address the building of a billion dollar prison on confiscated Māori land. Established in 2000, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is one of three UN bodies mandated to deal specifically with indigenous rights. Since the … Read more
The government is about to make a final decision on a 1500-bed expansion to Waikeria Prison that would make it larger than even the biggest prison in the UK. Anti-expansion campaigner Roger Brooking explains why building more and larger prisons is exactly the wrong solution to our incarceration epidemic. Cutting the prison population by 30% … Read more