Money Money Money *queue Abba cover*

The New Zealand Department of Corrections annual budget exceeds that of $748 million. This huge budget is supported by the New Zealand tax payer. Our hard earned cash is being spent taking care of prisoners, something I personally am not 100 percent comfortable with. Well yes you could argue that us tax payers are not paying ($90,936 per inmate, per year!) to look after inmates, but rather we are paying to keep criminals off the streets. But is it really right or fair that we should be cashing out as an individual and as a nation to put food on prisoners’ tables? Especially in these harsh economic times when so many are us are struggling to put food on our own tables.

Even worse still, is it fair the families of victims and victims themselves be asked to pay for, though be it indirectly, the well being of the men and women who’ve murdered their children, or raped them? Could you ask a mother to pay for the dinner of the man who molested her child, because at the end of the day is that not what we are doing?

As I mentioned earlier, this money could be invested in the lives of those who have not committed such horrendous crimes. Teaching lesser offenders life skills that could enable them to become useful and valued members of society would be a far greater use of money, and help in reducing New Zealand’s crime rates.