Page 189 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I am very pleased that over the summer Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services have officially begun offering services at the AMC. While this is a culturally appropriate service available to all detainees but obviously focused on Indigenous detainees, it also provides additional health capacity. I think that that is a very positive thing.
The issues of population growth are not new to this place. They are not new to me, to Mrs Jones or, in fact, to any jurisdiction in Australia. In fact, I would go so far as to say that most western democracies around the world are facing growing detainee populations and increased pressures on their criminal justice system. The issue is not a matter for debate. Those are facts. That graph that Mrs Jones brought to the debate is simply a reflection of publicly reported data. The key question is: how should we respond?
As part of the midyear budget review I have scheduled on Friday of this week, I have some major announcements that will outline the government’s response to population pressure at the AMC and throughout our justice system, all designed with a focus on improving community safety. I would like to assure the Assembly that the measures that are proposed are founded on research and best practice.
This approach is the culmination of many years of hard work, robust collaboration and in-depth data analysis. As the motion indicates, this work has been under development for some time now, reflecting both the complexity of the issues but also the depth the government has gone to in thinking about our response.
Whilst I am not in a position to present it today—this is unplanned and awkward timing—I look forward to sharing the outcomes of this analysis on Friday. It will be publicly available and no doubt I will be discussing it with Assembly colleagues over the coming weeks. I will also this week release an executive summary of the findings of the feasibility study into future accommodation needs of the AMC, which I had already committed to do. But it will also fulfil the substance of the motion that is before us. I can assure the Assembly that that request in Mrs Jones’s motion will also be fulfilled this week.
Other than noting some differently aligned timing and some proposed additional information in my amendment, I am happy to support the contents of the motion put forward by Mrs Jones today. I commend the amendment moved in my name to the Assembly.
MRS JONES (Murrumbidgee) (4.50): I thank the minister for his response to the motion. I am glad to hear that there will be some more information arriving on Friday. As I mentioned before, once again we find ourselves in a situation where there is concern about the level of accommodation available at the AMC, at our prison. Over the last few years under this minister we have had deaths, escapes, staff and inmates being bashed, illicit substance abuse, smuggling and not enough beds for the women detainees. Now, according to trend, we are heading towards full again.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video