Hon Tony Ryall MP National Party Corrections Spokesman

20 January 2004

Ryall Demands Answers On Corrections Koha

National Party Corrections spokesman Tony Ryall is calling for a full accounting of the $417, 652 spent by the Corrections Department on 'koha' in the past five years.

"I'm demanding a full detailed explanation about where that money has gone.

"I'd be particularly interested to find out how much of that 'koha' was given away during the Department's consultation process with Maori over the regional prisons programme.

"I'd be just as keen to see what the Department got for it," he says. "This money is on top of the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid out for 'cultural advice' on RMA applications.

Figures released today show that Corrections made up a third of the total 'koha' payments in the past five years, peaking under Labour in the 2002/03 year.

"National is concerned that these cheques are being handed out with little or no accountability.

"We believe the taxpayer deserves to know what return they're getting on their investment, especially when the funding is coming from tight budgets like those within Corrections," Mr Ryall says.

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