Prison Lockdown

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): Supplementary: can the minister outline to the house how many times our prison system has been in lockdown so far this year?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:08): From memory, and I need to correct the record in terms of complete lockdown right across the system, I think this may be the first occasion.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: No, from time to time, for security reasons lockdowns occur and that is normal practice, so this is not an issue around security as such but this is industrial action. Whether we agree with the tactics of the PSA or not, what I can say is that, as I said before, two things are most important: one is that the community is safe and, secondly, so are the prisoners.