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Story: Ombudsmen and officers of Parliament

Prison overcrowding

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Prison overcrowding

From the 1970s the ombudsman received a growing number of complaints from prisoners. One of their major complaints was overcrowding in prisons – a problem that still existed in 1990, as this cartoon shows.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: H-190-006

by Tom Scott

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

David McGee, Ombudsmen and officers of Parliament – Ombudsmen – treatment of people in detention, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/33108/prison-overcrowding (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by David McGee, published 21 May 2012, updated 20 January 2017.