Episode 1- Prisons

New Zealand has a dilemma to face. Prisons. Namely whether to build more at the cost of $302 a day per inmate of tax payer money. Or to reform laws to cut the rising population of inmates, an idea which requires a radical change in mindset and could see politicians being "soft on crime". New Zealand has the second highest rate of imprisonment (per capita) in the OECD, second only to the United States. As of 2017 we have locked up almost 10,000 of our citizens, and of that 2,811 are on remand and 51% are Maori. And that number is set to rise. So, what to do? Lifting The Rug talks to Tania Sawicki Mead of JustSpeak and Stephen Franks of Sensible Sentencing Trust for two very different views on how to tackle this problem. Who is right? You decide! Sources and Statistics: Bail Amendment Act of 2013- http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0066/latest/whole.html Department Of Corrections Annual Report 2016/17- http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/strategic_reports/annual-reports/annual_report_201617.html Salvation Army State Of The Nation 2018- http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/research-media/social-policy-and-parliamentary-unit/latest-report/State-of-Nation-2018 Recent and relevant news stories: Housing NZ , police accused of 'cooperating' to refuse bail prisoners- Newshub http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/05/housing-nz-police-accused-of-cooperating-to-refuse-to-bail-prisoners.html Waikato mega-prison off the table, Govt- RNZ https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/357827/waikato-mega-prison-off-the-table-govt Govt stuck between rock and hard place on law and order- Stuff https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103685874/govt-stuck-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-on-law-and-order National calls on NZ First to join forces on hardline law and order issues- Stuff https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104103170/national-calls-on-nz-first-to-join-forces-on-hardline-law-and-order-issues Playlist: Jailhouse Rock- Elvis Presley Track claim fair dealing for the purpose of education.