Christmas Island conditions 'disgraceful' - MP Kelvin Davis in Invercargill
Monday, 23 November 2015
Southland's correctional facilities are far better than the Australian government's detention centre on Christmas Island, a visiting Labour MP says.
Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis said on Monday that Invercargill Prison was 'one of the cleanest' he'd ever seen.
'It was the first prison I've been to in New Zealand that looks like a stereotypical prison that you'd see in TV shows,' he said.
'The visiting room was pretty much spotless.'
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Davis's words came as he and Christchurch East MP Poto Williams met with Labour members and the public in Invercargill on Monday.
Davis and Williams both said the purpose of their visit to Southland was to show Labour was committed to the region.
'We've got to focus on not just what happens in the cities,' Williams said.
'The regional economy is actually what powers New Zealand.'
As part of their day-long visit, Davis and Williams visited the Invercargill Prison, met with members of the Wahine Toa women's self-defence group, and stopped by the Community Law Centre.
Among the most-discussed topics with Labour members was the situation of detainees at Australia's Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre.
'What is being done is absolutely disgraceful,' Davis said.
'New Zealanders are second-class citizens over there.'
Following riots on November 9, up to 24 detainees were forced to sleep on top of black plastic rubbish bags in a small 'cage' with no ceiling or toilet, Davis said. He said he had been in contact with detainees in the centre, but that the detainees had their mobile phones confiscated.
'What the Australians are doing is creating an enemy,' he said.
'It's called the politics of fear.'
After the riots, Davis said he had been told some of the detainees were given only five packets of dried noodles and three loaves of bread. They were also given a water bottle every 3 to 4 hours in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and would urinate in the water bottles because they didn't have a toilet, he said.
Some of the detainees had been held for more than 18 months, he said.
Davis said he had not heard of any Southlanders being among the detainees.
Poto Williams said she hadn't heard of any Southlanders being held either, but didn't necessarily make things better.
'It's a breach of rights,' she said.
'What really concerns me is the narrative coming out of National [about this]. The 'con air' planes.'
The death of an asylum seeker is thought to have sparked riots at the Christmas Island detention centre - managed by Serco, the same company that runs Auckland's Mt Eden Corrections Facility - on November 9.
On November 19, a group of 12 New Zealanders who had been detained at the facility were flown to Auckland, on what was dubbed a 'con air' flight.
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Ben Mack: @benaroundearth