Page 946 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 21 April 2021
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the critical, from rostering to the implementation of inspector recommendations, the minister has outsourced his responsibilities. What does it say about a minister’s competence when he appoints a $2,000-a-day consultant to oversee something as routine as staffing and rostering?
Yesterday, Minister Gentleman stood up in this chamber and accused the Canberra Liberals of having no respect for our public service. He said that they are there to take care of us and our city when we need them the most. He then claimed that the Liberals had attempted to smear public servants during question time because we supposedly have no respect for their work. He said that we should be ashamed, apparently. This performance by the Minister for Corrections clearly shows, however, the hypocrisy of this government. Those opposite claim that they are for workers’ rights, but a very different reality lurks at the very centre of Mr Gentleman’s ministerial responsibility. The minister and his government have, over the past five years, allowed overtime hours for the corrections officers who are taking care of our prison to nearly quadruple, from 8,295 hours in 2016-17 to 30,138 hours last year, costing taxpayers an extra $7 million.
Minister Gentleman and his government allowed this to happen even though an independent report from a few years ago said that there were not enough staff to cover a full roster. How did the minister respond to this known understaffing issue?—by overworking existing staff with ever-increasing overtime. Everyone in this chamber knows that prolonged overtime negatively impacts both physical and mental health. When there are not enough staff to cover a full roster, people cannot take the leave they need and deserve. And when there are not enough staff, existing staff can even miss out on training that is essential for them to safely perform in their roles.
Yesterday, Minister Gentleman tried to assure us that, according to a survey, ACT government employees are feeling safe and well. Conveniently, the minister forgot to mention the staff survey conducted at the AMC, where the majority of corrections officers reported that they do not feel that they have adequate training in self-care, such as dealing with stress. In a highly stressful work environment this should be offered as a no-brainer from the very beginning. In addition, the inspector’s report from November last year highlights that correctional officers who responded to riot-related fires were not up to date with their training. And why not? As noted in the report, at least two of the officers had their essential training cancelled because of—guess what!—staffing issues.
That is the reality of this government and this minister. We have his word that he is the defender of the territory’s public servants, and then we have the way he runs a prison. He is overworking corrections officers so much that they cannot even attend potentially life-saving training. The hypocrisy could not be clearer. I know who should be ashamed. It is not the Canberra Liberals here; it is Minister Gentleman and his tribe, the Labor-Green coalition.
What does it say about a government’s fiscal responsibility when it budgets $30 million for a new reintegration centre and then puts it on hold soon afterwards? I was initially surprised by this decision, but in hindsight it is very much in keeping with the government’s track record when it comes to the AMC, and indeed many
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