The father of Karl Kuchenbecker says the first step in restoring
public confidence in the Department of Corrections has to be the
removal of chief executive Barry Matthews.
Paul Kuchenbecker yesterday said he could never forgive Mr Matthews for his insensitive remark that "there's no blood on my
hands" after Corrections' failure to manage Graeme Burton's parole contributed to Burton being free when he murdered Mr Kuchenbecker's son in January 2007.
Mr Kuchenbecker said Mr Matthews had to go because of "the continuity of disgraceful conduct by the department ... If it was the private sector or any big company he would be gone."
The Auditor-General's report was done after Corrections said it had made changes to improve its parole management following the Burton case, but found it was still not making basic checks in nearly every one of the 100 cases it examined.
The report questions the department's culture, saying it had
'recurring non-compliance' and extra resourcing could not fix its problems.
Mr Kuchenbecker said he had found Mr Matthews 'arrogant' in his dealings with him, and felt the public was equally tired of hearing excuses from Corrections.
"Barry Matthews has been given his chance," Mr Kuchenbecker said. "It is time for a new broom."
