Floyd du Plessis: Corrections Association President says prisons are short staffed and underfunded

The argument over our Corrections Minister's looking through rose tinted glasses continues, as the organisation begins to run out of new money. 

A $98million boost in this year's Budget was expected to last until June, when the population was projected to hit 10,800 - but that milestone is already nearly met.

Despite this, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says there's no looming crisis.

Corrections Association President Floyd du Plessis told Mike Hosking says this is a rosy version of the truth as staff are well and truly short.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So got some funding pressures around prison. So the ninety
eight million which was set aside in this year's budget
the higher front line staff for a population of ten thousand,
eight hundred inmates has been spent. Now the prisoner numbers
are just short of the ten thousand and eight they're
at ten thousand, seven hundred and sixty three, so that
numbers come nearly a year ahead of forecast. Two hundred
and seventy six full time positions also remain vacant. Floyd
Doupleacy is the Correction's Association President. Back with us, Floyd,

(00:22):
morning good one a mite. We seem to have a
dispute between what you're saying and what the minister says.
There's no shortage, no problem, so so how are you
calculating your numbers?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Unfortunately, what the minister's being feed as a rosy version
of the truth. So the staff are voluntarily short based
on how we the population we face versus when the
model of how we staffed was designed. The other components
of that is we're short on a regular basis. This
weekend alone, we had multiple shifts across prisons all across

(00:54):
the country, all heavily short. They're not filling those, and
so what's happening is by not filling those, we can't
unlock the prisoners, we can't safely operate, and so you're
getting an increase intention and prisoners an't getting time out.
And that's where the reports that we see come out
from the likes of the Onwardsman and the un committee
that's coming through comes from because prisoners are being locked

(01:15):
for extended periods because we don't have the staff to
physically unlock them safely, and then that creates tension within
those areas, right, that's what drives the violence.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
The two seventy six full time positions. You short of
what happened to the big pipeline, the advertising campaign and
the parent avalanche of applications.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Unfortunately, Corrections keeps talking about the avalanche of applications. The
problem with that is applications doesn't mean people. We're not
seeing a bigging uptake in actual people starting the job.
And then, unfortunately, the bigger problem we've got as people
start the job realize how difficult our job actually is
and we're losing farm or staff than what we need

(01:57):
to and we're also losing a lot of staff to
Australia because they pay a lot more money for a
job that's nowhere near as violent as the prisons in
New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Do we have the region Do we have a regionality
problems as well, depending on where you are in the
country and where the prisoners and where the prisoners are.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yes, we do. So that's a problem for a number
of reasons. A certain prisons are more difficult than others.
And because of that master suppression, because we've got no beads,
prisoners are being moved around all the time and that
causes attention. They want to be close to their famis.
They want to be close to the support New twig
and the character has been done to beat thee.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
I appreciate the insight Floyd doeople see who's the Correction's
Association prison. So they're still short. Ten eight was the number.
It's at ten seven sixty three. They just got there quicker.
So presumably this is going to continue to fly because
we're seeing more people put in prison. Obviously. For more
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