Page 1641 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 4 May 2010
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or their inaction. If this is the case then I think the minister needs to clarify what occurred and what action has been taken in this case.
We have also seen the case of the alleged rape and abuse of a detainee at the prison that led to an ACT Supreme Court judge warning the ACT government:
If the community cannot protect someone who is detained then the community cannot expect to retain that detention.
It is very concerning that the impact of mismanagement at the jail is so extensive that it is now reaching a point where it may affect sentencing decisions made by the judiciary. We may now see accused criminals who would otherwise be detained being released into the community. That is the implication of Simon Corbell’s mismanagement of corrections. Indeed, if the allegations are proven true, that a man found guilty of raping a prisoner at the Belconnen Remand Centre has reoffended at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, Simon Corbell will have failed in his duty of care to prisoners, and any pretence of a human rights compliant prison would have been discredited.
Mr Corbell: How puerile is that? Prisoners reoffend. Oh my goodness!
Mr Smyth: Go on, laugh about it.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, members.
MR HANSON: So you are laughing at the rape of a prisoner, are you? You think that is funny, do you, minister?
Mr Corbell: Shock, horror! And the minister is responsible because the prisoner reoffends!
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Hanson will be heard in silence, thank you.
MR HANSON: You think that a prisoner reoffending by raping another prisoner is a matter for you to laugh at and to dismiss. That is absolutely disgraceful. If it is true that this man has been used as an ashtray and burned with cigarettes then I think we can rightly be appalled.
Let us turn to the issue of the lockdown of prisoners for 20 hours a day due to staff shortages and the resulting rooftop protest by prisoners that was supported by a number of corrections officers. For an understanding of how badly Simon Corbell has failed his own measure of success, in the context of 20-hour lockdowns, let me read from a speech by Simon Corbell that he made in Canberra on 19 March 2008 at a forum conducted by Christians for an Ethical Society. This is what Simon Corbell had to say at that time:
It is well documented that boredom and inactivity in the correctional setting encourages drug use, undermines rehabilitation objectives and threatens security and safety. So, central to the operating philosophy of the AMC is the concept of the structured day which aims to eliminate boredom and inactivity by providing each prisoner with a daily routine that encompasses a variety of activities.
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