Page 5213 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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range of options which the advisory committee will address, those civil liberties or human rights issues remain outstanding to those prisoners in the New South Wales gaol system and those who will be put in the New South Wales gaol system while the ministerial advisory committee addresses itself to the terms of reference.
The fact of the matter is that the Government and, in particular, the Minister have been very quiet about what goes on in the New South Wales system. Indeed, when I raised it at the New South Wales-ACT Consultative Forum in Queanbeyan a week ago the Minister opposite was reasonably quiet about the issue. The fact is that they are letting the New South Wales Government off lightly. Nothing will change in the New South Wales gaol system unless there is disquiet about the behaviour of Minister Yabsley in New South Wales and the Greiner Government. They have mistreated prisoners in their gaol system, they are responsible for the overcrowding of their gaols, and the conservative Ministers opposite are sitting quietly on the issue.
It is a positive move, however, that the Government should try to ensure that people are incarcerated as a last resort. It is a positive move that further examination of work release and home detention programs should be investigated. But it is correct, as well, that it has to have wide community support. The difficulty for the Government will be that a prevailing view in some sectors of the community is that the best thing to do with people who have offended against the laws is to lock them away out of sight.
The Government will have to resist the temptation to do that. We know that there is at least one amongst the Government who would rather lock people up than leave them out on the streets. Although Mr Stefaniak has mostly directed his attention to young people, I am sure that he feels pretty much the same way about adults as well. So it is a matter of concern for the Government. It is something that the Labor Opposition will focus on continually because the issue of human rights is at the base of the structure for the Labor Party. We will continue to pursue it.
I am happy to have participated in some community angst about the conditions in the New South Wales gaol system. I hope that the Minister opposite does not think that because he has made this announcement the disquiet about conditions in the New South Wales system will go away. Labor expects that the Minister should continue to direct his attention to the rights and conditions under which ACT prisoners are kept in New South Wales gaols. Though they are only a small number amongst the massive number who are incarcerated in the New South Wales gaol system, we still have a responsibility to ensure that the rights of those people are protected.
Mr Collaery: Oh, come on, Wayne.
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