Prison a disappointing monument to Labour's waste

new-zealand-national-party

Tue Sep 25 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Prison a disappointing monument to Labour's waste

Tuesday, 25 September 2007, 11:24 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Simon Power MP
National Party Justice & Corrections Spokesman

25 September 2007

Spring Hill Prison a disappointing monument to Labour's waste

Spring Hill Prison in Waikato, which opens today, is a disappointing monument to the Labour Government's slack handling of hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money, says National's Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power.

"As much as we need the beds, there is no doubt there has been huge incompetence surrounding the cost of Spring Hill and the other three prisons in the Regional Prisons Construction Project.

"The money could have been much better spent.

"A State Services Commission report shows estimates moved from $114 million in 2000 to $380 million in December 2005 - and who knows what the final cost will be?

"Spring Hill's beds cost an estimated $585,000 each, and its landscaping bill was $4.34 million out of a landscaping bill for the four new prisons of $11 million.

"Better budgeting could have seen a lot of this money going into drug and rehabilitation services.

"Corrections also used an untried contracting method - a Collaborative Working Arrangement (CWA) - to build it, which meant indicative costs were not established before construction began, and which also meant if costs blew out, taxpayers would carry the can. And that's what happened.

"The indicative cost was not known until 20 months after earthworks began.

"Even before the CWA for the earthworks could be signed off, the cost estimates were $9 million over budget, prompting a Treasury official last year to write: 'I can't see how Corrections can enter into a contract that knowingly exceeds the amount Cabinet has specifically allocated for Spring Hill'.

"And then they spent $1.5 million for 'the delivery of cultural advice and service'.

"All of this resulted in a four-prison project, originally estimated to cost $400 million, blowing out to nearly $900 million.

"Like the Milton Hilton in Otago, Spring Hill is another disappointing monument to Labour's waste of taxpayers' money."

ENDS

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