• The Government’s fast-track project list reveals a proposal to nearly double Auckland Prison’s capacity. 
• The Department of Corrections has “no immediate plans” for expansion but seeks future readiness. 
• Activists accuse the Government of attempting to establish a dangerous “mega-prison” for staff and inmates. 

The Government’s new fast-track project list has blown the cover on a proposal that would allow the capacity at the high-security Auckland Prison to be almost doubled. 

The Department of Corrections says there are “no immediate plans” to expand the prison, but it still applied for fast-tracking so it could “respond quicker to any future increases in demand”. 

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell told the Herald it was the department being “proactive” amid forecasts for growth in the prison population. He said that was in part due to the Government’s “public safety” focus with reforms to sentencing. 

“I anticipate there will be in the shorter term, an increase in people coming into the Corrections system. I am hoping, in the longer term, we might start to really deal with and drive down those numbers in terms of offending, and have a situation where we are reducing the prison population.” 

Asked why the fast-track process was being used when there are no immediate plans to expand the prison, Mitchell said: “It was available to them, so they thought they’d use it. 

“They saw it as an opportunity,” he said. 

The revelation has activists accusing the Government of trying to fast-track a “mega-prison” they believe will be dangerous for both staff and inmates. 

The proposal is found on the list of 149 projects that could get quick approval under the Government’s fast-track legislation that is expected to pass through the House by the end of the year. 

The project description says it would alter the prison’s designation conditions under Auckland’s Unitary Plan via what is called a notice of requirement to allow the current limit on prisoner numbers to be increased from 681 to 1200. 

The Unitary Plan guides what can be built in Auckland and how land there can be used. A notice of requirement can designate land to be protected for the use of proposed public works. 

Under the current designation, the maximum capacity allowed at Auckland Prison, also known as Pāremoremo, is 681 prisoners. As of Monday, there were 616 prisoners at Pāremoremo. 

The Government could greatly increase capacity for inmates at Auckland Prison at Pāremoremo. Photo / NZME 

“If approval is granted to increase this designation, Corrections would still need to complete construction work to increase the level of physical fit-for-purpose bed capacity at the site,” said Alastair Turrell, deputy chief executive for infrastructure and digital assets. 

“However, amending the designation now means we can respond quicker to any future increases in demand for prison capacity.” 

Turrell said this work would “future-proof” the prison network to ensure “we have sufficient prison capacity proportional to the increasing population”. 

“The project will also support the long-term resilience of our prison network. This is particularly important in Auckland, which is a region of high demand, and our only maximum-security facility.” 

Dr Emmy Rākete, spokeswoman for People Against Prisons Aotearoa, said an expansion would be “unnecessary and unrealistic” and result in “abuse, violence and riots”. 

“As a 600-person prison, Pāremoremo is sloppily-run, dangerous, and violent. As a mega-prison, Pāremoremo would be a pit as dangerous to the staff as to the people inside it.” 

Labour’s corrections spokeswoman Tracey McLellan was also critical. 

“If our prison system needs to rely on the Government fast-tracking consents at the expense of local community input and the environment, then the Government has created a mess,” she told the Herald. 

“If the Government had a well thought out plan for law and order and dealing with crime in a meaningful way, they wouldn’t have the need to build hundreds of additional prison beds.” 

Mitchell has already announced plans to expand Waikeria Prison in Waikato, taking its capacity to 1865 beds. 

It comes as the Government introduces several new laws it acknowledges will result in an increase in prisoner numbers. Reforms like introducing new aggravating factors and encouraging the use of cumulative sentencing were expected to increase the prison population by between 1400 and 1700 inmates per year after 10 years. 

Police and Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell. Photo / Marty Melville. 

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said last month there would be beds to accommodate them. 

“We’ve also invested significantly in the Corrections, obviously, in [the] Budget, but of course, our desire 10 years out is that we’ll have fewer prisoners because there will be less crime.” 

Until Sunday, the specific projects that will be added into the fast-track approvals legislation weren’t public. That meant there wasn’t an opportunity for public submissions on them during the select committee process. 

Once the legislation has passed, the project’s developers will be able to apply through the Environmental Protection Agency to have an expert panel assess their projects and apply any relevant conditions. They could also be declined. 

National also didn’t campaign specifically on increasing prison capacity. Its 2023 election policy said there was “currently sufficient physical capacity in the prison network given the prison population has fallen by 20% in the last five years”. 

“If capacity pressures arise in the future, these will be funded out of future Budgets.” 

Pāremoremo is where the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit is located, described as being the “SAS of prisons”. It was set up in 2019 following the Christchurch terror attacks to house the terrorist responsible, and was then made permanent in 2023. 

A report by the Office of the Inspectorate in August said some prisoners there had “immense feelings of hopelessness” and mental health clinicians raised concerns about the “dark, oppressive” environment. 

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.