[06:00am 23/09/2016] - For Immediate Use
No Pride in Prisons
Prison Sociologist: Bill Before Select Committee Will Increase Crime, Imprisonment and Child Poverty
No Pride in Prisons says that a current bill before the Social Services Select Committee will lead to higher rates of
crime, victimisation, imprisonment and child poverty.
“The Social Security (Stopping Benefit Payments for Offenders who Repeatedly Fail to Comply with Community Sentences)
Amendment Bill, a member’s bill introduced by Mark Mitchell, utterly fails to fulfil its purpose,” says No Pride in
Prisons spokesperson and University of Auckland Prison Sociologist Ti Lamusse.
“The supposed reason for introducing this bill was to reduce the number of people who end up before the court because of
a breach in their community-based sentence obligations. However, in effect it will lead to more crime and more people
being imprisoned.”
As the bill currently stands, it would give the Department of Corrections the power to instruct Work and Income to
reduce or entirely suspend a person’s benefit, if they are on a community-based sentence and they have not followed the
instructions of their probation officer.
“As we’ve seen with the current set of sanctions Work and Income imposes on beneficiaries, Work and Income often,
through bureaucratic incompetence, unfairly or without warning sanctions people,” says Lamusse.
“Sometimes people have had their benefit cut by WINZ by accident or because they have not been provided with meaningful
notice that they may be sanctioned. This suggests that the implementation of the bill will be similarly adhoc and
unjust.”
No Pride in Prisons is concerned that, if the new sanctions are introduced, they will have serious impacts on the lives
of those affected.
“A similar measure in the US, where people convicted of drug offences were prevented from accessing welfare, had
disastrous effects. As a result of these reforms, people often went for days at a time without food, were more likely to
be homeless and develop drug and alcohol addictions. If people have their entire benefit cut in New Zealand, as was done
in the US, we can expect a similar explosion in the rate of severe poverty.”
The group argues that the bill will also worsen child poverty. “We estimate that there are tens of thousands of children
whose guardians are currently serving a community-based sentence and are receiving a benefit. Given that the current
level of financial support for beneficiaries leaves more than half of children of beneficiaries in severe or substantial
poverty, cutting a child’s caregiver’s primary income will only make that child more vulnerable.”
“This bill will lead to an increase in the number of children living in poverty.”
No Pride in Prisons’ analysis of the US-equivalent of this bill suggests that the bill will also lead to an increase
rate of crime.
“US data suggests that preventing someone from being able to access welfare increases the likelihood that they will
commit more crime.”
“When you have limited opportunities to find employment, because you have a criminal conviction history, and the
government won’t give you any money, you have to find some other way to support yourself or your family. For many people
that may involve theft, fraud or engagement in illegal employment.”
“This bill will effectively force more people to commit crime in order to survive.”
“Contrary to the aim of the bill, it will end up with more people before the courts, acting out of desperation just to
feed and house themselves and their kids.”
No Pride in Prisons unreservedly opposes this bill and has written a Select Committee submission, outlining its
concerns. That submission can be viewed here. No Pride in Prisons encourages members of the public to also write a
submission against the bill.
No Pride in Prisons has written a template submission which can be found here.
Submissions close September 28.
ENDS