Growing calls for a vote of no confidence in Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis by corrections officers should be making Mr Davis rethink his priorities in the portfolio, National’s Corrections spokesperson Simeon Brown says.

“It’s no wonder corrections officers are quickly losing patience with Mr Davis, the Minister has spent more time advocating for prisoners while his officers have experienced a drastic 92 per cent increase in assaults on staff under his watch.

“The amount of violence New Zealand’s corrections’ staff are facing in prisons is out of control under Labour.

“Given the significant increase in prison assaults, it’s astounding the Minister has only just started requesting reports on the number of assaults happening, but still hasn’t sought any advice on a potential law change that could help reduce assaults and keep our corrections’ staff safe.

“It is clearly incredibly disappointing for our corrections officers that despite Mr Davis being so vocal on prison assaults in Opposition, now that he’s in charge he has turned a blind eye.

“Our corrections officers put their lives in danger every day, they deserve to have a Minister who backs them.

“This widespread lack of confidence in Mr Davis should be a wakeup call. He needs to be focusing on making sure our corrections officers feel safe in the workplace not solely advocating for the rights of prisoners.

“A National Government wouldn’t tolerate assaults on prison officers.”