See inside the new Wiri prison

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga invoked one of the world's most famous prisoners, Nelson Mandela, when he opened a new prison at Wiri today. "No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails," the minister said, quoting Mandela. He said New Zealand was at a crossroads. "Do we really want to lock up our prisoners and throw away the key?" he asked. "Do we really want to write off most of our most disadvantaged citizens?" He defended the decision to put computers and phones into every cell in the new prison so that prisoners can pursue educational programmes to help them get jobs when they come out.Serco's new $270m, 960 bed prison has been opened at Wiri.