Page 2599 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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government—I guess you might refer to it as a watermelon of a government—treats the money of Canberrans as its own, we will, no doubt, continue to see the costs of this prison spiralling out of control. The fact is those opposite continue to deliver poor performances on capital projects, and the AMC is no exception.
At this point the average Canberran would probably be thinking that it is a bit excessive. However, the spendthrift attitude of this government will continue to amaze. Even the most politically tuned-out citizens of this city will tweak their ears when they realise that there is $13.6 million of additional funding for additional staffing and a further $3 million for a new electronic security system to put this upgrade into the AMC facility. That brings the total of this expansion close to $100 million. This was an upgrade that was not meant to be needed for another 19 years. If we have had to spend $100 million in just six years, the underlying question which this minister needs to be absolutely and fundamentally clear on is: how much more are we going to have to pay over the next 19? It is a grim future for this once pet project of ACT Labor government, now left in the hands of the Greens minister to try and iron out some of the problems
A notch on the belt of failure this ACT government consistently wears is the distinct lack of security and safety which plagues the AMC. Even this week the belt got tighter as another notch was added through the idea that absolutely dumbfounded me—to put syringes and needles into the jail. Who in their right mind thinks it is a good idea to provide detainees, most of who are convicted criminals, with sharp needles in order to use illicit drugs? On one hand, Minister Rattenbury and the Corrective Services executives are saying they are trying to combat the use, sale and infiltration of illicit substances in the AMC, but then in a bizarre move they think that it is a good idea to provide prisoners with the tools to use such substances. The logic behind this is absent. Not only is the government contradicting itself, but it is quite simply condoning the use of drugs, something which the Canberra Liberals plainly do not support, and I think that is in line with the views of most Canberrans.
If the program is to limit the transmission of bloodborne viruses and illnesses, let us have a constructive discussion about some of the other issues that cause these health issues to occur, such as the unprotected rape and sex that often occurs in prisons, as well as the practice of jailhouse tattooing. But putting aside for the moment that condoning drugs is not a good thing, the sad reality is that the ACT government has not kept the welfare and safety of their own employees at the AMC in mind. What a failure in the duty of care that they have to staff that work for the territory. What a lapse in judgment from this minister.
The anger and the frustration of corrections officers and staff at the AMC over this issue is evident in their attitudes towards the enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations. You will not see the minister come out and admit it, but simply give the unions a call or talk to the staff directly themselves, and you will clearly and very quickly understand that they are up in arms about this blatant green light to drug use in the AMC.
Let us turn this around and look at it from the point of view of a prisoner and what they have to go through. For a prisoner to access a needle, they will need to ask the
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