Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers

Today the Department of Corrections has signed a formal agreement that provides the department with the ability to block the use of cellphones in prisons. The deal is a world first. Technology solutions will roll out nationwide, starting within 6 weeks at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison. Between 20 and 30 available technologies have been tested, and we now have a range of solutions that can be implemented across the prison system.

💬 Jill Pettis: What other measures have been introduced to prevent cellphones from getting into prisons?

I am glad that question was asked. Preventing cellphones and other contraband items from entering prisons, and apprehending those who do attempt to smuggle them in, have been amongst my highest priorities. I am about to introduce amendments to the Corrections Act that will boost search powers and stiffen penalties for anyone who is foolish enough to bring communications devices, drugs, or weapons into prisons. We already have intelligence-gathering systems in each and every prison. We have doubled the number of drug-dog teams. We have 17 kilometres of new security fencing around our prisons. We have shifted towards a single point of entry at all our prison sites. We are moving on this international challenge.

💬 Simon Power: Will this new technology work at Mount Eden Prison?

The Department of Corrections will be working with the telecommunications companies to ensure that cellphone jamming technology will be used as long as it does not interfere with legitimate cellphone users. It is possible to use it at Mount Eden Prison, I am told, and the Department of Corrections will work with the companies to ensure that that can happen.

💬 Ron Mark: Does the Minister not agree with New Zealand First’s view that part of the problem we have with cellphone usage in prisons and the smuggling of them into prisons has been the “wet bus ticket” approach that has been taken towards inmates who have been found to be in possession of cellphones; if he does agree that past approaches have been of the “wet bus ticket” types—that is, no extra sentencing; no extra prison term—what will he do about that in the future?

We are moving to amend the Corrections Act to ensure that anyone who is in possession of a cellphone on a cell site without full authorisation will be prosecuted, be that person a staff member, a visitor, or a prisoner, and that such a prisoner will receive an extended prison term if he or she is prosecuted.

Consumer Affairs, Ministry—Confidence

12. KATE WILKINSON (National) to the Minister of Consumer Affairs: Does she have confidence in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs; if so, why?

Yes; because it is a small but hard-working ministry. But I am sure there is always room for improvement.

💬 Kate Wilkinson: Why should we believe that the Minister is concerned about consumer safety when she has not recommended a single product safety standard for 2 years, when only six have been recommended in the last 6 years, and when the formaldehyde content in textiles was raised as a concern in the Australian media 3 months ago yet nothing has been done about it until this week?

Because the legislation under which our consumer law operates—which was described by David Russell, the former chief executive officer of the Consumers Institute, as a fine, elegant standard, which is much admired internationally—has absolute standards. Every good must be safe and fit for the purpose for which it is intended. We have good standards, and those standards are very well managed. However, what we cannot do is stand by every consumer and tell them what to buy and what not to buy. We have to be active, intelligent, well-informed consumers. We have done a great deal. We have had mandatory recalls for hot-water bottles. We have had mandatory recalls for tongue studs. We have had many voluntary recalls, including, I have to say, in the last 2 hours a voluntary recall of blankets by Spotlight Stores (NZ) Ltd, when high levels of formaldehyde were found after voluntary testing undertaken in Australia. That affects 850 blankets. The system is working.

💬 Kate Wilkinson: Why should we believe that she is concerned about consumer safety when she has not recalled a single product in the last 12 months, or that voluntary recalling of products is working well, when in the last 12 months only 17 product recalls have been made, compared with over 200 for the same period in Australia?

Wherever goods are found to be unsafe they are subject either to a voluntary recall or to a mandatory recall. The system is working very well in New Zealand, and this Government has properly funded the Commerce Commission to investigate the Fair Trading Act. We have increased the number of staff in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. We are working closely with other ministries and other countries, and the absolutely independent former chief executive officer of the Consumers Institute say that our system is both efficient and widely admired.

💬 Dianne Yates: Could the Minister remind the House when and why the Ministry of Consumer Affairs was established and what its role is?

💬 Madam SPEAKER: I hope the question is answered in a succinct manner.

Certainly, Madam Speaker. Since it was established by the fourth Labour Government the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has effectively maintained safety standards. For example, its work covers the development of consumer policy, consumer protection, product safety, and weights and measures. It provides appropriate, accurate, and accessible information, education, and advice to consumers and to businesses on consumer laws and issues. What is more, the New Zealand market overwhelmingly works.

💬 Kate Wilkinson: Why is it that we have a product safety standard for toys relating to small parts, yet we have nothing from the Minister on the hazardous chemical residues on children’s clothing and nothing on the lead content of paint used to paint those toys?

All goods sold in New Zealand must be safe and fit for the purpose for which they are intended. We have very good standards, and we see them enforced. The recalls are an example of the system working. I am astonished that the Opposition, which despises all consumer support, is trying to attack us and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for an excellent system that works.