OVER 10,000 SIGNATURES — OUR FIRST PETITION UPDATE

OVER 10,000 SIGNATURES — OUR FIRST PETITION UPDATE

Thank you to everyone who signed and shared our petition about PERU and restrictive management in New Zealand prisons. We have compiled the petition wording and the list of more than 10,000 signatories and sent them to MPs from different parties. This is the first update we’ve posted about what has happened since the Bill want back for the second reading. 

The Corrections (Management of Prisoners, and Prisoners’ Property) Amendment Bill passed its second reading. MPs began considering its details, but that stage was interrupted before the bill was completed. The bill has not become law. Parliament has now risen ahead of the November election, so further consideration will depend on what happens when the new Parliament meets.

During the debate, MPs raised concerns that families have been raising for a long time. Green MPs questioned whether a regime developed for exceptional circumstances could apply to a wider group of prisoners. Labour supported the bill at second reading while raising concerns about the breadth of the proposed designation, independent scrutiny, meaningful human contact and access to rehabilitation. Other MPs also questioned who could be brought within the regime.

Our petition asks MPs to look at what happens in practice: restrictions on family contact and their effect on children; confidential communication with lawyers; timely healthcare; access to treatment and rehabilitation; complaints that receive meaningful answers; independent oversight; and clear, achievable ways for prisoners to progress out of restrictive conditions. We have also raised concerns about how PERU placement and PERD and TNOC-related classifications are applied.

We have now received a reply from Labour’s Corrections spokesperson, Dr Tracey McLellan. She confirmed that she received the petition and the list of more than 10,000 signatories. She acknowledged the concerns about family contact, rehabilitation, legal communication, healthcare, complaints, oversight and pathways out. She said Labour will revisit the bill and the issues raised in the petition when the House returns.

This is an acknowledgment, not a promise that the bill will change. We will continue asking MPs whether it will fix the problems families and prisoners have described, and what they will do about those problems while the bill is paused.

Thank you for standing with the families and people affected. We will share further responses and updates as we receive them.