Kelvin Davis is from the Ngāpuhi tribe, who make up about half of the nation’s Māori prison population. He is also the corrections minister

The man on a mission to get New Zealand's Māori out of prison

The man on a mission to get New Zealand's Māori out of prison

Kelvin Davis describes himself as a member of “the most incarcerated tribe in the world”. The former teacher grew up in New Zealand’s deprived Northland region and has seen childhood friends, schoolmates and relatives locked away.

Appointed the country’s corrections minister in 2017, he is now on a mission to empty the nation’s prisons of Māori inmates. And after just eight months with Davis in the job, the overall prison population has dropped by 8%.

New Zealand has one of the highest incarceration rates in the OECD, and in March the country’s prison population hit a record 10,820 people – more than 50% of whom are Māori, despite indigenous people making up only 16% of New Zealand’s population.

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Davis is from the Ngāpuhi tribe, who account for roughly 50% of New Zealand’s 5,000 incarcerated Māori.

“I am told I was the first person to ask to be the minister of corrections. I just believe we can do so much to improve New Zealand if we look after those who have fallen the furthest in the country,” says Davis, who is also deputy leader of the Labour party.

“For decades now the emphasis has been for getting tough on crime and locking people up – it doesn’t work. It is fundamentally a flawed proposition.”

‘It’s sort of like prison reform by dodging the politics of prison reform’

For more than 20 years New Zealand’s prison population has been growing as the crime rate has been dropping. Under the previous National government, which was in power for nine years, New Zealand had been looking at a future of NZ$1bn “mega-prisons”, of which there are very few in the world – except in the United States.

Now, the Labour coalition government, led by prime minister Jacinda Ardern, has pledged to cut prison numbers by 30% in 15 years, a goal which the opposition has derided as soft on crime and dangerous for communities.

“No government wants to build a new prison,” says David Bennett, the National party’s spokesman on corrections. “But when you’re faced with an increase in serious and violent crime, it is the only option to keep the public safe.”

Despite initial scepticism from the public and some prison experts, in just eight months New Zealand’s prison population has dropped by 8% – with more than 800 inmates released between April and late November.

With each prisoner costing the New Zealand tax-payer about NZ$100,000 a year, the fiscal savings have been huge, even if that is not the main impetus for change.

Dr Liam Martin, a criminologist from Victoria University in Wellington, has been astounded by the swift reduction, and says it is “striking” that it has been achieved without any legislative change.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kelvin Davis at a focus group with prisoners at Arohata women’s prison. Photograph: Office of Kelvin Davis

“The government are using quite innovative measures that have been really surprising. I wouldn’t have thought they could have done it, and I haven’t heard of it being done like this anywhere else,” says Martin.

“It’s sort of like prison reform by dodging the politics of prison reform. They have taken it out of the legislative arena and are doing things that are almost cultural – shaping the institution around a different set of goals and ideals.”

Leigh Marsh, the head of high impact innovation at the Department of Corrections, leads a team tasked with meeting the government’s target of a 30% drop in 15 years. He says the minister of corrections has given his team carte blanche to be innovative and creative, and it’s been an exciting year – the first time in a long time Marsh has felt engaged in “meaningful work”.

We’re not doing anything scary here – it is all common sense. Leigh Marsh, Department of Corrections

“My team got together and looked at those things that used to wind us up when we were on the floor, and we’re implementing stuff now that is frankly just the right thing to do. We’ve finally got the mandate and support,” says Marsh.

Pilot schemes being tested include an app that allows prisoners to track and process their bail applications and conditions, and sends reminders of upcoming court appearances. Bail officers have been stationed in prisons and courts to assist the many thousands of illiterate prisoners who can’t fill out bail application forms. Two dedicated prosecutors are working in Auckland to “triage” defendants so they don’t end up serving their sentence in remand (and missing out on rehabilitation services), and specialised teams are working with prisoners coming up for parole to help them meet the conditions to be eligible first time round.

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“We’re not doing anything scary here – it is all common sense. Really, really simple stuff,” says Marsh. “We’re loving this, it’s great fun. We’re finally working through the shopping list of reform we’ve all been carrying around in our heads for a long time.”

Every year about 500 people sentenced to home detention end up in prison because they don’t have a home to go to, Marsh says. Now, corrections staff take a hands-on approach – making phone calls, writing letters and helping prisoners who have “led lives of chaos” with the time-consuming and tedious practicalities of getting back on the straight and narrow.

The aim is to move away from punishments and stigmatisation, towards rehabilitation for some of the country’s most damaged and vulnerable people. “Prisons will always exist for some people, but those that don’t actually need to be there now have our support at the front and back end – you wouldn’t believe what a change that is” says Marsh.

‘Deep down, no one wants to go to prison’

Since being appointed minister, Davis has been travelling around the country’s prisons and holding huis [meetings] with inmates and corrections staff. He thinks it is the first time a minister has asked inmates, in their own language, to share their expertise and experiences of prison – and its myriad dysfunctions and inefficiencies.

“I ask them – what can we do to help you so you never, ever come back here?” says Davis. “Deep down, no one wants to go to prison. Most just want to get out and be with their families. But we as an institution make it very hard for that to occur successfully.”

Davis has been criticised as a shoot-from-the-hip MP, a “wounded man walking” and a hot-headed radical. On the other hand, many of his supporters think he isn’t moving fast enough on prison reform, and that the government is consulting experts while the welfare of inmates forced to double-bunk or unable to access rehabilitation services is being neglected.

Davis says his vision for prison reform won’t convince everyone – he’s relying on his actions to do that. “People I’ve been to school with, people I grew up with, whanau [family] have been to prison,” says Davis. “I know they’ve done something stupid to get locked up but should we judge people by the worst mistake they’ve ever made? No. We can help these people. And we will.”