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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 10 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 3066 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

It then goes on to say:

Labor believes that work must be concluded on prison programs before we decide on the prison design and we must decide on design before we decide on site.

It begs a couple of questions. What work has been done on the programs? Has there been public consultation about them? What is the involvement of the community in designing programs to help us as a community rehabilitate our people who are incarcerated? Where is the final document that sets out these programs?

I would have thought that would be a document that a government proud of what it was doing would make public before moving on to phase 2-to decide on the design. I would have thought you would have some public consultation. I would have thought there might be a few options. I would have thought you might see a drawing or two, perhaps even a model of the proposed design of a prison, before you decided upon the site.

The reality of these broken promises is that none of that work has been done. You only have to look at the merry-go-round that are the answers to the recommendations made by the Estimates Committee to see what is happening. For example, recommendation 39 reads:

The committee recommends that the Government table in the ACT Legislative Assembly, as soon as possible, the terms of reference for the construction of the Remand Centre.

The answer reads:

Detailed work on the capital and operational costs for a new remand centre is proceeding. Specifications and costings will depend on a decision yet to be made on whether the project will be for a Remand Centre only or for a Remand Centre within a footprint for a more comprehensive correctional facility. The terms of reference and/or specifications will be provided once they are finalised.

Going on to recommendation 46, it reads:

The Committee recommends that the Government table in the ACT Legislative Assembly, as soon as possible, the terms of reference for the construction of the ACT Prison.

And the answer? The government's response reads:

Agreed. The development of terms of reference for the construction of an ACT Prison are dependent on the issues discussed in the Government's Response to recommendation 39.

This has not been finalised.

How does this fit into what Mr Quinlan told the Estimates Committee? How does this fit into Mr Quinlan's assertion that he had written and put up on the wall the information that people needed? When quizzed about the terms of reference for the prison at the Estimates Committee for the third approp back in March, he said:

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