Judith Collins: Davis playing a dangerous game

Judith Collins
Judith Collins

Kelvin Davis "is playing a game" and risks attracting the attention of "violent" criminals, Corrections Minister Judith Collins has warned. 

The Labour MP on Thursday alleged a small number of Corrections officers in Auckland are taking bribes and sneaking cigarettes to inmates. He provided Newshub with a recording of a conversation between himself and a family member on the outside, explaining how the smuggling operation runs.

Mr Davis promised to give all the evidence he had to Ms Collins.

"About six o'clock last night he sent through what he said was a transcript," Ms Collins told Paul Henry on Friday morning.

"Yesterday I spoke to the Corrections chief executive Ray Smith, and Ray and I talked about this, and Ray decided to send this straight away to police because it's evidence of bribery and corruption -- well, it's an allegation of it."

Ms Collins appears to not have read the transcript Mr Davis gave her, saying she didn't know what was in it.

She says Mr Davis hasn't given her any names, nor the recording of the conversation he had with the whistleblower.

"I'd like the recording that he made of this conversation to send to police. But also everything he sent me last night, I sent it straight to police within almost a nanosecond."

Without more information, she's doubtful police will be able to do anything.

"[Mr Davis] besmirched the reputations of over 4000 Corrections officers. He didn't name the person, he didn't give us the details… he didn't name the person who's alleged to have set up the bribery in the first place."

Ms Collins also accuses Mr Davis of playing politics with the allegations instead of doing the right thing.

"He's got to be very careful with this sort of thing. People aren't in prison because they're really nicely behaved people -- they've actually behaved in really bad ways, and they may well become violent."

Corrections officers smuggling in contraband for prisoners isn't exactly new. Ms Collins says since 2007, four Corrections officers have been jailed "for exactly this sort of thing" and there are currently two cases before the courts.

"This is bribery and corruption."

Newshub.