Waikeria Prison. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Waikeria Prison expansions will be "absolutely critical" for managing increasing prison populations, Corrections says.
Bed capacity across the country is projected to run out in 2027 on a best-case scenario, or worst-case, in June next year.
Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot appeared alongside other department heads at the Justice Select Committee for scrutiny week.
He said there were other places where capacity could be increased, and in some cases, this had already been done.
But more would be needed to bridge the gap between the first Waikeria expansion - set to open around the same time as that mid-year worst-case bed capacity limit - and the second expansion, opening in 2029.
"What we have got is a clear programme of work that is acknowledging that we've got sites with capacity that needs to be brought online, and we've done a significant amount of that already this year.
"It's effectively us having in our network some facilities that have been taken out of use because we had a reduction in the prison population. And those facilities will and have had significant remediation to ensure they're safe to use. Some we have done and therefore working through both the safety of the infrastructure - the fit-for-purpose nature of the infrastructure - and the necessary staffing required to ensure it can be operated safely."
A look inside the cells of the new facility. Photo: Finn Blackwell
He said any such expansion and changing "operational requirements" always involved speaking to the relevant unions.
The additional facilities needed between the two phases for Waikeria were slightly longer-term projects, to ensure they would be up to the standards required, he said.
Labour's Tracey McLellan raised concerns about staffing at Waikeria given it is in a relatively isolated area where it would be harder to recruit people to work.
Lightfoot said the 2029 opening date gave them a decent amount of time to recruit enough people and said he had a "reasonably high degree of confidence that we can get there", given the success of the recruitment campaign.
Opposition members had sought to have Minister Mark Mitchell appear for scrutiny week, but that was voted down by the committee which has majority membership from governing parties.
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