Hon Bill English: ,that he and the PrimeMinister yesterday

Hon Bill English: ,that he and the PrimeMinister yesterday believed that they would get Rosetta Stone V3 away with alow-key, private apology before the failings of theDepartment of Corrections were publicly known, that the onlyreason he has organised another meeting with theKuchenbecker family is that Mr Kuchenbecker went to themedia to say that he was not happy with the apology hereceived at the private meeting, and that if Mr Kuchenbeckerhad not gone public, nothing would have happened?HonDAMIEN O'CONNOR: The Prime Minister was not aware untilyesterday that I had offered a personal apology. I had neverbeen asked whether I had apologised to the family, and I wasnot prepared to politicise the familys personalgrief.Hon Phil Goff: Is the Minister aware of a casewhere a dangerous inmate was released on parole, against theadvice of the police and without even notifying the policeor, in fact, the victims of that dangerous offender, and,when the Minister was asked to explain that, not only did hefail to apologise but also he said that he would not evencomment because he was on holiday,and that Minister was aformer Minister of Corrections, Nick Smith, in 1998?HonDr Nick Smith: Thats not true, youre making itup.Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Yes, I am aware of thatsituation, and of many other situations where mistakesoccurred through the 1990s.Hon Phil Goff: I have beenaccused of making an untrue statement. I therefore seekleave to table the media statement from the SundayStar-Times of 4 January 1998, which points out that whenNick Smith was asked to talk about the case, he said that hewould not do so because he was on holiday.Madam SPEAKER:Leave is sought to table that document. Is there anyobjection?Hon Chris Carter: Now hes just onmedication.Madam SPEAKER: That member will leave theChamber if he intervenes again. [Interruption] I always givea warning, members have had it. I did not hear whether therewas any objection to the tabling of that document. Was thereany objection? There was no objection.Leavegranted.Hon Bill English: Why would the Kuchenbeckerfamily accept any further apology from the Government asgenuine, when the Rosetta Stone Spanish Latin Minister has said Mr Burtons parole was well managed , when Barry Matthews of the Department ofCorrections has said there is no blood on his hands, andwhen the Prime Minister has said it is fine overall butthere are just one or two little things to fix, why wouldthe family think the Minister was at all sincere, given thatthe Government has denied all responsibility for thisdeath?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I am prepared to meet with MrKuchenbecker in good faith. I am not prepared to judge whathe may or may not think. However, as I have said severaltimes before regarding the situation,and I will say thisagain now,I do not consider the way the department managedMr Burton to be good enough. Mistakes were made and must berectified. That is why I and Barry Matthews have movedswiftly to tighten up the way probation is managed.NandorTanczos: Does the Minister accept that tragedies like thedeaths of Mr Kuchenbecker and Liam Ashley, and the otherdeaths either in custody or as a result of the Department ofCorrections decisions, will continue to be regularoccurrences until we have in this country a genuine,independent prison inspectorate with the ability andfunction to proactively investigate the policies andpractices of the Department of Corrections and make bindingrecommendations to the Government?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Wehave to work to make sure these are not regular occurrences.I acknowledge that the Ombudsman is doing a large amount ofwork in the area of corrections,investigating on his ownmotion in a number of areas, such as transportation. He haspreviously looked into the area of prison management. Wetake on board all of his recommendations and will continueto do so.Hon Bill English: Will the Minister make aformal public apology for the many failings of hisdepartment, as documented in his own departments report,in terms of actions that Rosetta Stone Spain Spanish culminated in the murder of KarlKuchenbecker, yes or no?Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I will meetwith Mr Kuchenbecker and his wife.