Privatization of Corrections in New Zealand (From Privatization and the Provision of Correctional Services: Context and Consequences, P 75-86, 1996, G. Larry Mays and Tara Gray, eds. - See NCJ-167497)

• NCJ Number: 167503
• Author(s): G Newbold; M Smith
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes how privatization has been implemented in New Zealand.

Abstract

Privatization of prisons in New Zealand came at the end of a series of reforms directed at restructuring and adjusting both the public and private sectors. Policymakers hoped that private enterprise could find ways of operating more efficiently and introduce innovations not considered or not possible under state monopoly. The position of the government body which will oversee the establishment and running of privately managed prisons and the body's responses to critics of privatization can be summarized as follows: (1) The state will retain the power to enforce the law; (2) The argument against corrections privatizers taking profit from human misfortune is no stronger than that against profiting from private hospitals, legal services to defendants, or teaching in prison; (3) State monitoring of private prisons will help guard against contractors cutting corners to save money and will ensure that contractors conform with the law and with the contract under which they operate; and (4) Private prisons will be able to operate more cheaply principally through avoidance of union-regulated public service staffing requirements and streamlining of industry practices. The opening of New Zealand's first contract-managed prison is expected in 1996, and heavy scrutiny is expected from the government, public watchdogs, academics, and the media. Notes