Page 1642 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 4 May 2010
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The operation of the AMC will … maximise the time prisoners spend out of cells and foster their involvement in appropriate and constructive pro-social activities. Prisoners will be expected to participate in a range of programs and activities aimed at repairing the damage caused by their offences, minimising the risks to the community and promoting positive reintegration upon release.
An essential aim is the establishment of a “busy day” whereby each prisoner will be engaged in a balance of work, programs, educational and recreational activities.
That was the aspiration, that was the spin and that was the rhetoric. If that was Simon Corbell’s intent then he has failed. The demonstration of that failure was the lockdown that resulted in prisoners protesting on rooftops and corrections officers who supported them.
If he wanted the prisoners to have a busy day and to stay active then why did he build a jail without a gym? I think the role of a gym in a prison is well understood in providing prisoners with an outlet for their frustration and their boredom. So when Simon Corbell was lecturing everyone who would listen on how boredom and inactivity in the correctional setting encourage drug use, undermine rehabilitation objectives and threaten security and safety, he has certainly reaped what he has sowed by his own incompetence. As we so often see from Simon Corbell, his actions did not match his rhetoric. Reality does not match his spin. He was, again, unable to deliver on the promise.
This is also affecting the real need for rehabilitation programs to be delivered at the jail. I hope the Greens are paying attention to this. There is a delay and disruption to rehabilitation programs due to staff shortages and lockdowns. We do not know to what extent, but we do know that community organisations contracted to run rehabilitation programs at the AMC, such as DIRECTIONS ACT, have been turned away on several occasions from the AMC due to staffing shortfalls and the lockdowns.
Given the sensitivity of this issue, it was entirely negligent or wilfully deceitful when Simon Corbell gave misleading information to the media and misled the public when he denied that the lockdowns were the result of a staffing shortfall. He characterised this process as “an opportunity for prisoners to get a bit of drama and excitement in their lives”. He was dismissive. But it has been shown subsequently that the reason for that—and it was supported by the staff—was because of the extensive lockdowns, something that he criticised prior to becoming the minister responsible for this jail.
Simon Corbell also misled the media and the public about the frequency of lockdowns at the jail and then made further mistakes in explaining the commencement date of the 12-month review into prison operations. Maybe these were errors and mistakes rather than deceit, but if anyone is left wondering why so many mistakes are made in corrections then they have only to look to Simon Corbell’s inept handling of the prisoners’ protest. He, indeed, leads by example when it comes to misleads, mistakes and incompetence.
It is also damning that corrections officers gave tacit approval and support for the prisoners’ protest and deliberately failed to prevent the prisoners from protesting on
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