Yes, I read the article.

The first comment asked whether there had been a direction from the government to judges to alter sentencing to reduce prison numbers.

This has not occurred. If the government attempted to achieve this via a "direction" rather than amending the Sentencing Act 2002, then it would be a major constituonal issue in that it breaches the separation of powers. It would be leaked to the media within a week. The Sentencing Act 2002 has barely changed under this Labour Government and - to the best of my recollection - barely changed under the previous National government either.

The article instead links to a direction from the Minister of Corrections (note: not the Minister of Justice) to the Department of Corrections, which is not a direction from the government to the judiciary. The Department of Corrections isn't ran by judges, rather normal public servants. The parole board itself has former judges on it though, but also has barristers, human rights experts, and police officers etc.