The Government has opened a new 596-bed facility at Waikeria Prison this morning.
It comprises 28 buildings across 21 hectares, 14 kilometres south of Te Awamutu.
Surrounded by 1.7km of perimeter fencing and with a single point of entry, the new facility sits adjacent to the prison’s existing low-security facility, which has capacity of 460.
The prison has high-security accommodation for 500 men alongside a dedicated mental health and addiction service within a new 96-bed facility.
It also featured an education and rehabilitation hub with 10 classrooms, a large kitchen and laundry, a new waste and recycling centre, more industry training spaces for prisoners, advanced biometric security, two main visitation areas, and a “modern medical centre”.
Corrections has recruited 300 additional frontline staff for when the prison starts taking inmates over the next few months.
A further 800-bed extension was also planned, which would make it the biggest prison in the country when complete.
“Our Government has restored proper consequences for crime. Because of that, there has been an increase in the prison population and fewer victims of crime,” Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said in a statement.
“As the prison population continues to increase, this new facility will help ensure Corrections has the right level of capacity and resources to keep its staff, people in prison, and the public safe.”
The new facility’s size has led some to dub it a “mega prison”.
People Against Prisons spokesperson Emmy Rakete called the new facility a “locking in” of a “highly incarcerated society”. (Source: 1News)
Among them was People Against Prisons spokesperson Emmy Rākete, who called the new facility a “locking in” of a “highly incarcerated society”.
“New Zealand is almost incomparable to our peers – countries like the United Kingdom, Wales, and Ireland are all countries that are quite similar to us, but incarcerate far, far fewer people,” she told Breakfast.
“By building these obscene mega prisons, we ensure that governments will then choose policy settings that fill these obscene mega prisons.”
The prison has high-security accommodation for 500 men alongside a dedicated mental health and addiction service within a new 96-bed facility. (Source: 1News)
She said the outcomes “could not be more disastrous” for working-class communities.
Corrections chief custodial officer Neil Beales responded to Rākete’s concerns, saying the new facility had “all the facilities, and all the possibilities to make a real difference”.
“We would be remiss in our own responsibility and our commitment to the public if we didn’t build these places so that we can increase our humane population, to make sure we keep doing the right things, learn from previous incidents in the past, and always try to improve.”
Beales called the new prison a “vast improvement” on what the department previously had.
“This is a very modern, very well-equipped prison that will do well and will provide better opportunities than we’ve had before.”
Waikeria was the site of a large-scale riot in the 2020-21 summer, with a high-security unit burnt to the ground.
A group of inmates were protesting what they called “inhumane” conditions and caused millions in dollars of damage.
