The decision to introduce iced drink machines followed a sweltering hot summer, where NZ experienced significant heat. Wellington recorded its hottest January since records began, back in 1927, as a result of the heat.
The slushy machines, available for prison guards, caused a stir in Parliament years ago.
The controversy was famously known for creating a row in Parliament, with then-Opposition Leader Simon Bridges yelling “slushies” to the house in rage.
“What has the Government delivered? Oh nothing? Slushies! Kelvin Davis says 193 nearly-$6,000 slushy machines,” Bridges famously yelled across the floor, in the face of the then-Labour Government.
Bridges followed up his comments saying: “I would not be at all surprised if it was prisoners, as well, who are getting their lips around these slushies,” pushing back on what he saw as “frivolous spending”.
“This kind of spending shows the Government doesn’t need to be taxing Kiwis more, as they clearly don’t know how to spend what they’re already taking,” Bridges said at the time of the initial controversy.
When contacted by the NZ Herald about the ongoing use of the slushy machines, Bridges said: “I think I made my views on this well known a while back”.
Corrections and Police Minister Mark Mitchell sang a different tune to that of Bridges in opposition.
Mitchell told NZME in a statement; “operational spend of this nature is a matter for Corrections. My expectation is for Corrections to always prioritise staff safety”.
In 2018, Corrections began to provide crushed ice drinks for prison staff, in hopes to bring down core body temperatures in excessive heat. The department confirmed the drinks are not available to prisoners.
The agency has confirmed since installation, 4761 bottles of concentrate syrup have been purchased to be used in Corrections-managed prisons.
Department of Corrections custodial services commissioner Leigh Marsh said the organisation’s role is to support the safety and wellbeing of its staff, with almost 90 per cent of Corrections staff working in “frontline roles”, including managing people in prison and those on community-based sentences and orders.
“It is important to invest in the areas that will make a real difference to [staff] and their ability to keep safe and do their job properly, while always being conscious of delivering value for money for taxpayers.”
Corrections has been placed under a cost-savings directive, alongside all other public service agencies, across departments and ministries.
Recent months have seen spending put under a microscope, with thousands of jobs on the chopping block as public sector leaders chase down targets for the upcoming May 30 Budget.
Marsh said the department has a “duty of care” to minimise the risk of heat stress to staff, in relation to health-and-safety laws.
The news comes amidst widely-reported staffing pressures at the department.
Roughly a year ago, thousands of Corrections workers walked off the job in protest, rejecting a pay offer. A “prison staff crisis” was also reported at Auckland’s Mt Eden prison - remnants of a wider pattern of some prison units being shut amidst ongoing staff shortages, with unfilled vacancies common.
Marsh added it remains “vitally important” measures are taken to maintain staff safety and comfort, as prisons are volatile environments, with the department citing more than 80 per cent of the prison population having convictions for violence in their history.
The heat is a real issue in prisons over summer for Crrections workers, Marsh said, as staff manage prisoners in hot and confined spaces and conditions, at times wearing heavy equipment including stab-resistant vests.
Corrections suggested the heat, alongside a growing prison population, has the potential for “significantly increased prisoner tension and aggression”, with a real risk a staff member or prisoner could be seriously hurt.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.
