Prison life is not meant to be easy for those convicted of our most horrific crimes, but allegations by Labour MP Kelvin Davis of a Mt Eden Correctional Facility of fight clubs, and worse, need investigation.
Mr Davis says a Mt Eden inmate died as a result of a practice called ''dropping''.
Using parliamentary privilege, Mr Davis said new prisoners were sized up by gangs, bashed and dropped off balconies on to concrete below.
That was what happened to one inmate, whom he named as prisoner Evans, who died of a ruptured lung.
Corrections disputes Mr Davis' claims, saying a prisoner suffered fractures to his left ankle and leg after falling from the landing in a cell block.
The prisoner was hospitalised, treated and returned to prison.
Mr Davis questioned whether injured inmates are being transferred out of Mt Eden to avoid logging the incidents.
His latest allegations follow video emerging on social media showing gang members engaging in organised fights in the prison.
The fights were filmed on contraband mobile phones and posted on YouTube, sparking an investigation ordered by Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga.
Evidence is now emerging Mr Lotu-Iiga was aware of incidents of violence previously, and not recently as he has maintained.
Corrections chief executive Ray Smith last night said he had learned another prisoner alleged he had been injured at Mt Eden.
Mt Eden is run by private company Serco which employs 122,000 people in more than 30 countries, operating everything from healthcare facilities to laboratories and air traffic control.
Serco started a 10-year management contract for the Mt Eden Corrections Facility in August 2011.
The company, which employs more than 350 people in New Zealand, also operates the $300 million, 960-bed Auckland South Corrections Facility, now named Kohuora, in Wiri.
The National Government determinedly introduced Serco to run prisons, opining that a private company with experience in the industry was better placed to operate the facilities.
Now, the Government is being forced to investigate.
Serco says the Chief Inspector of Corrections is holding an investigation into the incidents and allegations.
The investigation is being conducted independently of Serco. Police have also been advised and may conduct a separate investigation.
The Government's two-phase review will start by investigating the circumstances surrounding the incidents posted to social media and whether there are organised prisoner fights at Mt Eden, paying attention to the last three months.
The second phase will review the adequacy of controls designed to address prisoner violence and access to cellphones in other New Zealand prisons.
Mr Lotu-Iiga says he has put Serco on notice and he is expecting a strong response from the company in resolving the latest issues.
As expected, there has been much criticism of Serco and the decision by the Government to allow a private operator into New Zealand's prison sector.
The criticism has conveniently forgotten the riots, violence and deaths of prisoners before Serco entered the scene.
The prison service in New Zealand has long been fraught with mistakes and mishandling of situations.
In all likelihood, the Serco staff now being blamed for overlooking or mishandling the so-called fight clubs and alleged violence would have been the same ones wearing a Corrections Department uniform in a different life.
Illicit goods have been smuggled into prison for eons and the practice is unlikely to stop anytime soon.
These early calls for the Government to sack both Serco and Mr Lotu-Iiga are ill-founded but an investigation into the behaviour of both is warranted.
Prime Minister John Key may need to step in if it is proved Mr Lotu-Iiga has been economical with the truth in Parliament.
New Zealand has a high rate of imprisonment per head of population.
Crowded prisons will ferment tension which can easily escalate into violence.
Prisons are a place for violent people - some of the worst society has on offer.
They are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. But as so many New Zealanders end up in prison, their safety must be paramount.
