In June 2025, The New Zealand Government Department of Corrections Ara Poutama Aotearoa celebrated the opening of a new facility at Waikeria Prison, with CIMIC Group’s CPB Contractors and Pacific Partnerships constructing the 500-bed facility.
Waikeria Prison is providing a new level of safety and security for staff and prisoners, with an additional 96-bed dedicated mental health and addiction centre delivering a new level of care and service for the prisoners, alongside access to education and training, giving them the best opportunity for rehabilitation.
Prisoner rehabilitation is at the heart of the Waikeria Prison Development project’s success, with CPB Contractors working with the Department of Corrections to train and employ 87 prisoners on the project through the department’s Release to Work (RTW) programme. Each prisoner was integrated into the up to 1000-strong workforce, gaining real work experience and construction skills, providing them with the best opportunity to find work on release, and safely reintegrate back into their communities.
CPB Contractors General Manager Paul Corbett says, ‘We’re proud to have worked with the New Zealand Government and the Department of Corrections to build such an impressive new facility at Waikeria Prison – one that showcases the value of collaboration in delivering complex infrastructure projects.
‘It is a privilege to partner with the Department of Corrections on its RTW programme. With a large percentage of the RTW participants who have been released from prison now employed within their communities, we’ve seen firsthand the value of this initiative. Not only is it a major stepping stone in the rehabilitation of prisoners, but the RTW workers also took pride in the fact that they contributed to the facility.’
Graham Whitson, Pacific Partnerships Managing Director and Chair of the public–private partnership consortium Cornerstone Infrastructure Partners, says: ‘The Department’s focus on safety, rehabilitation, health and wellbeing of prisoners has chartered new territory, and it has been very satisfying to support this vision from the start – and we will continue to do so for the long-term.’
Located approximately 170 kilometres south of Auckland, in the Waikato region of New Zealand (near the town of Te Awamutu), the project covers some 21 hectares, includes 28 new buildings, with associated infrastructure including perimeter walls and fences, covered walkways and recreational facilities, requiring approximately 8.5 million work hours to complete.
Throughout construction, CPB Contractors was committed to ensuring the economic and social benefits were maximised within the community, prioritising local employment, and partnering with regional and national businesses, including JWI Earthmoving Limited and Whangārei-headquartered national electrical contractor McKay.
Waikato-based, family-owned civil and bulk earthworks business JWI was initially subcontracted on the project to deliver a limited scope of civil works, with this contract then expanded to include a wider range of works. Employing four full-time staff at commencement of the Waikeria Prison Development, JWI Director Jason Inness has since grown his workforce to now employ a further 11 full-time staff. JWI also subcontracted an additional 26 workers to support the delivery of the project, demonstrating the direct opportunities for sustainable employment and economic growth that regional infrastructure projects like this can generate.
‘We invested heavily in new equipment to meet the demands of the project,’ Inness says. ‘That included concrete plants, excavators, bulldozers, rollers, trucks and advanced machine control systems. These assets have since enhanced our capability and efficiency across other projects.
‘Working with CPB Contractors was a turning point for JWI. JWI has grown from a small-scale operation with limited systems into a well-structured company capable of planning, managing and executing large complex projects with confidence.’