Tamaki later said the tweet was not serious.

The department wouldn't go further into detail "relating to a threat, or our response," but said it took "all threats to the safety and security of our sites seriously".

In April, a war of words broke out between Tamaki and government ministers, including Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis and Finance Minister Grant Robertson.

Tamaki said he wanted Government funding to introduce his Man Up programme into prisons, but Davis stated Tamaki had failed to follow proper application procedures.

Among several tweets he posted about the funding not going ahead, Tamaki wrote that "we will plan thru private visits to inmates in every Prison to bring Man Up in and cause inmate revolts in evey prison (sic)".

He subsequently said his tweet came out of frustration from the obstacles the programme had faced.

"I put that tweet out because they refused to listen, so what do you do when you've got something that our indigenous people want.

"Inmates are writing letters every day, I can give you letters."

Tamaki said the tweet which talked of revolts was designed to get attention.

"The incitement is not serious, really, I can't cause that in prisons, how do I do that? We're not even allowed in ... but I got your attention, that's what it was."

Tamaki says the programme has a success rate for non-reoffending of 72 per cent.

The Man Up programme claims to have more than 300 groups operating in every main city and town in New Zealand, as well as groups running internationally in Australia and Cambodia.

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• newshub.co.nz
• Image: newshub.co.nz

Prison education programmes boosted the literacy and numeracy skills of 42 per cent of prisoners last year, according to Corrections' annual report, and there are plans to increase the number of prisoners participating in learning programmes by about 300 to 1300 each year. Continue reading

The report said many remand prisoners and youth detainees were being held in cells for 19 hours a day, while some were being fed "frozen leftovers" and others were having to take vitamin D tablets due to a lack of sunlight.

The report was written by the UN Committee on the Prevention of Torture, which visited 35 police stations, prisons and other detention facilities in New Zealand last year. Continue reading

Justice Minister Judith Collins implied it was ridiculous and suggested this "sort of display" is "why people are leaving the Anglican Church".

Perhaps the symbol of a fenced in cell is upsetting to the journalist and the politician but Bishop Duckworth was just doing his job, albeit in a colourful way.

Last week Anglican churches around the country were focusing on penal reform. We have some serious problems in New Zealand. We incarcerate people at a greater rate than almost all like countries and we have a very high recidivism rate.

This is a problem for all of us because a prison system that is not rehabilitating people becomes a school for further crime. That in turn puts us all at risk.

The bishop's question is, "Do we want a system that simply punishes offenders or do we want one that changes behaviour and leads to less reoffending?"

The time in the cell drew public attention to the question and allowed him a week to contemplate and pray.

We all understand the former. The latter is perhaps a mystery for some, but you have to admit that is what you would expect of a bishop.

So what is the substance? The rate of imprisonment in New Zealand more than doubled from 91 per 100,000 people in 1987 to 197 per 100,000 in 2010. Today's figure shows a small improvement, sitting on 192.

These very high imprisonment rates are well above like countries with the exception of the United States. Britain imprisons 148 per 100,000, Australia 130, Canada 118 and France 105.

The picture gets worse if we look at the imprisonment of Maori. They are imprisoned at a rate of 700 per 100,000, three and a half times more than non- Maori, or over five times more than the total Canadian rate.

So are New Zealand's streets safer as a result of all this very expensive locking up? It does not appear so because the recidivism rates are very disturbing. Around half New Zealand's prisoners (49 per cent) return to prison having reoffended over the four year period after being released.

The figures suggest some smart thinking is needed. We lock up more people than other like countries. We have a shameful ethnic bias within those figures and a very high reoffending rate.

The bishop didn't blame the Government or the justice or correction systems. He stated that his vigil was not a protest. It was a call to think, discuss and act. This problem has grown over the last 25 years under successive governments, but there are hopeful signs within the corrections and justice systems. Continue reading

Sources

• Charles Waldegrave in Stuff
• Image: Anglican Taonga

Charles Waldegrave leads the Anglican Church's family centre social policy research unit.