Labour forces debate on Mt Eden riot

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32563, 24 March 1971, Page 2

Labour forces debate on Mt Eden riot

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, March 23. The Opposition forced a snap debate in Parliament this afternoon to discuss the Mount Eden Prison riot of last Saturday.

Mr R. J. Tizard (Lab., Pakuranga) said it was surprising that the trouble did not develop into something worse. Mr Tizard yesterday visited the prison with the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk.)

Mr A. J. Faulkner (Lab., Roskill) said the Minister of Justice (Mr Riddiford) had mentioned plans to extend the prison accommodation. This was breaking a promise made about five years ago by the former Minister (Mr Hanan) that the present prison would go.

Mr T. F. Gill (Nat., Waiternata) said it had to be remembered in the debate that the inmates were in prison to be punished, to be restrained, and to protect the rest of the community. It was no time to be wasting sympathy on men who assaulted warders. What about a bit of thought for the prison officers, he asked, instead of “all this talk about the poor prisoners." Mr Tizard derided an earlier statement by the Minister

of Justice (Mr Riddiford), that efforts were still being made to recruit extra staff for the prison. "The Justice Department has had the same edict as every other Government department—that staff levels must be held at the level of January 31,” he said. Mr Tizard said he was told during his visit to the prison that persons being considered for appointment to the staff at January 31 were no longer being considered because of this edict.

Mr Tizard praised the prison staffs* handling of the disturbance. “When the prison superintendent went down to speak to 80 unruly, yelling prisoners, he couldn’t even have a bullhorn to speak to them—because the Government’s economy drive said he could not even spend 70-odd dollars to buy one. “Men idle” Mr Tizard said there was not enough work in the prison to occupy all inmates—“most of the 300 men are idle, wasting time.”

Prisoners had to be locked in their cells because there was insufficient staff to supervise recreation. Cells, designed for one prisoner, had to take two. He called on the Government to do something about a building programme and improving the staff situation. Many pepole were being sent to gaol because there was no room for them at other places such as detention centres, Mr Tizard said.

He was not advocating the mollycoddling of prisoners but they should have reasonable conditions and chances for reformation, not degradation.

Minister’s view Mr Riddiford said that some of the demands being made by prisoners at Mount Eden were “frivolous”—end he gave as an example the prisoners* request that they should be given two clean sheets a week instead of one. “During the war,” he said, “soldiers made do with no sheets at all.” He told Parliament: “I was a prisoner of war for two years—and from a tactical point of view I have a pretty good idea of what goes on in the administration of prisons.” Mr Riddiford said the news media had been demanding immediate improvement in prison conditions. “I am too old a hand to do that,” he said. He was “having the situation fully reported on”— which would not take very long. Mr Riddiford said that the “blowing up and exaggerating” of incidents such as Saturday’s disturbances was no help to the administration of justice. It set up tensions and gave a totally wrong impression. He repeated that there had been continuous efforts to recruit prison officers. Two causes The Minister agreed that there was overcrowding at Mount Eden, and said there were two causes: It was a remand prison so it was impossible to anticipate the

pressure on accommodation from day to day, and the overcrowding was also partly caused by an increase in crimes of violence, about which the Government had “wisely taken action” in increasing to six months’ gaol the maximum sentence which a Magistrate could impose without the prisoner having the right of trial by jury. He was “delighted to have this opportunity” to explain to the public and the House that administration of prisons was a permanent problem—not something which arose from incidents which could be exploited for political purposes. “I believe in the policy of firmness at the right time,” he said. “But step by step must go remedial treatment to improve the overcrowding at Mount Eden. The Government is looking at this immediately.” The crisis at the prison was not the result of Government parsimony, Mr Riddiford said.

Repairs urged Mr W. W. Freer (Lab., Mount Albert) said that Mount Eden had received the troublemakers from Mount Crawford and Paparoa prisons. The present staffing strength at Mount Eden was “glued” to a maximum of 210 prisoners, yet there were 375 there on Saturday. Prison officers had told him that even on a maximum of 210 prisoners they were still 11 members short. Mr Freer advocated the abolition of the staff ceiling and an immediate recruitment of additional staff; immediate work to proceed on repairing the north and east wings damaged in 1965; a time limit to be set by the Government on when Mount Eden will be replaced. Mr Freer suggested a re-

mand prison for about 100 inmates to be built near the Auckland central police station, and an urgent decision on the establishment Of a minimum security block at Paremoremo. The Minister of Police (Mr Thomson) accused the Opposition of using “every hysterical device to squeeze out of this incident every possible political advantage.” There had been no threat at any time to the residents of Mount Eden suburb or of Auckland city. He hoped that conditions in New Zealand’s prisons would “never be more than sparse?’ “I hope they will never be so good that the prisoner wants to stay there for ever,” he said. Mr Thomson said he believed conditions in prisons should be "adequate for good health, but no more.” Because the prisoners could be numbered among the fallen was no reason why they should have two sheets a week. Issue “now” Mr Kirk said that anyone listening to the Government and hoping to hear what would be done about prison conditions would be bitterly disappointed. The issue was not what had or had not been done over the last 20 years, he said. but “what is to be done and how quickly we will get to it."

The situation would get worse month by month, Mr Kirk said. It was already hard to name a prison in New Zealand that was not suffering from overcrowding. Mr Kirk said one of the most surprising statements made by Mr Riddiford was that the disturbance was “of no great significance.” Mr Riddiford: That’s right Mr Kirk: Warders were injured, a serious attempt was made to bum down the prison, and this was of no great sigificance?

Ringleaders from the recent strike at Mount Crawford prison had been transferred to Mount Eden not long before the riots, Mr Kirk said. The common denominator of the 1965 prison riots at Mount Eden and Paparoa was the transfer of ringleaders from one prison to the other. Staff safety The issue at present, he said, was less the comfort of prisoners than the safety of people . who worked at the prison, and the capacity of Mount Eden to provide security for staff and public. The present circumstances were extremely dangerous for prison staff and potentially dangerous for people who lived in the area.

In 1965, Mr Kirk said, the Prime Minister had promised that the occupancy of Mount Eden Prison would be reduced. to 150 but the present figure was more than double what had been promised. The Minister of Finance (Mr Muldoon) said that Mr Kirk was' in Auckland on Labour Party business and went to the prison hoping to make political capital out of it.

Referring to the staff “freeze” at January 31 levels, Mr Muldoon said that four people were going to be employed at the prison, and one of these was taken on and the others were not.

“Are they going to say that if some of those other three had been employed it would have rectified the situation?" he asked. P.Y.M. arrival Mr D. A. Highet (Nat, Remera) said he deplored the action of the Progessive Youth Movement in arriving at the prison and encouraging the prisoners to riot. . He said he hoped the press and ladio would stop giving this group publicity. It was a matter of disquiet that the P.Y.M. arrived at the prison soon after the incident started with placards inciting the prisoners to riot He hoped he was wrong, he said, but it appeared there could have been some forewarning.