Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: Port Augusta Prison Expansion

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:02): I move:

That the 531^st report of the committee, entitled Proposal to Expand the Port Augusta Prison, be noted.

The Port Augusta Prison is situated approximately 10 kilometres south of Port Augusta in a general farming region. It can currently accommodate up to 500 low, medium and high-security prisoners. The current prison complex consists of three high-security cell blocks, two medium-security cell blocks, plus a number of low-security residential units. There are a number of associated facilities providing services to the prisoners such as admissions; a medical clinic; teaching and programs areas; kitchen, laundry and visit areas; as well as associated administrative areas.

The project will build new independent living unit accommodation to accommodate up to 128 prisoners in four two-storey units. It will also incorporate the construction of support and industries buildings, and a reception building. The cost of the project is $57.2 million exclusive of GST. Construction is due to commence at the beginning of 2016 and will take around 12 months to complete. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (11:03): I rise as the member for Stuart and the local member for Port Augusta to support the government's decision to proceed with this project. It is actually a very important project for many reasons, not the least of which is that our prisons are overflowing at the moment. I remember a couple of years ago in estimates, as the shadow minister for correctional services questioning the then minister and saying, 'The estimates that you are providing to parliament for the growth in prisoner population are way too low.' I was told at the time that I was wrong, and I asked for an additional briefing on that topic and they explained the logic, and I said to them at the time, 'I still think you're wrong.' Based on just purely the statistics, it appears to me that prisoner population growth will probably double what you are talking about at the moment, and that has turned out to be true.

So, point number one is, yes, of course we need this expansion and of course we need more prison beds to keep up with the number of people being put in prison. It is also, from a very local perspective, an important project. Port Augusta has had a prison for a very long time. Totally separate from the purpose of the prison and the work that it does with regard to housing prisoners and hopefully, very importantly, helping prisoners rehabilitate themselves, it is a very important contributor to our local community.

Port Augusta, by and large, is very pleased to have a prison because of the jobs it creates, and Port Augusta will benefit not only from the $57 million of construction, a large amount of which will, I hope, include local businesses, but if it does not include local businesses in the construction phase it will certainly include the fact that people who have come from elsewhere to work on it will support local businesses in other ways.

Given the very difficult situation that we have in Port Augusta at the moment with the power station being about to close, and it is important to always note that Leigh Creek is in a very difficult situation as well and really all of the north of the state between those two communities is in a difficult situation, the prison at Port Augusta has typically been the second-largest employer. For the last decade or so, the power station employed the most people, the prison the second most people and the railway yards the third most people. The railway yards have contracted significantly; the power station is about to close, and 185 direct employees plus many more indirect employees will lose their jobs, leaving the prison as by far the single highest employer in the region. So, at that level, I am very pleased that there are going to be a significant number of new, long-term jobs created.

I am sure we will find that a lot of current power station workers, if they are entitled to and if they choose to accept the government's return to Public Service option, will end up working at the prison, because that is a very logical place that the government will have to offer new jobs. This is an exceptionally important project, not only from the ongoing growth that is necessary within the Correctional Services area, but to Port Augusta specifically this is very important. The extra jobs will be incredibly welcome and the money spent on construction will be incredibly welcome.

Let me just finish by saying that I also hold the people who work at the prison in Port Augusta in incredibly high regard and I hope that this improved, larger facility, particularly with a focus on industries, will allow them to do their work even better than they have in the past, because prisons are not just about locking people up. Prisons are not about the 'rack 'em, pack 'em, stack 'em' approach, which we have heard a former Labor government treasurer make such a popular statement about. Prisons are about protecting the community and, while doing that by keeping people locked up, rehabilitating those prisoners so that they have every opportunity to return to society and, number one, never be criminals again and, number two, actually be positive, active contributors to society. I have no doubt that the expanded Port Augusta prison will allow the people who work at the Port Augusta prison to do that even more capably.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:09): I, too, rise to support the 531^st report on the expansion of the Port Augusta prison and commend the hard work of the Public Works Committee once again with a project which, as we have heard, will cost a bit over $57 million, exclusive of GST. The project was part of the 2014-15 Mid-Year Budget Review, obviously, with a capital budget of $52.7 million. It was an approved project that included 128 beds in 16 residential units, configured as eight beds per unit.

Just touching on the member for Stuart's saying that these beds seem to be being outgrown by the number of prisoners, yes, it is widely known that the government is only prepared to put in the minimal number of beds with an expanding prison population, so I think we will see the Port Augusta Prison revisited with another large amount of money to expand it.

Some of the questions that were asked of the officials during the inquiry mostly concerned the security of the prison. I was told that the whole facility was high security. One part of the facility that is outside the secure perimeter is the Mulga Unit, a true low-security environment, and that is a 40-bed facility.

We then have two zones within the secure perimeter—the secure zone, which accommodates 260 prisoners, and the residential zone, where these units are going to be constructed, which currently accommodates 160 prisoners. There are also 37 beds in the specialist zone, with special programs including the specialist Aboriginal program. The system has been operating since about 2008-09.

We were told that just under 800 additional beds have been brought online since 2009. As I said previously, the growing number of prisoners is a concern, but this facility, with its upgrade, will give that prison the capacity to better rehabilitate those offenders and give them the opportunity to go back into mainstream society. The ultimate outcome is for them not to reoffend again. The ultimate outcome is that we plateau the number of convicted offenders who have to enter the prisons.

We have to acknowledge that this build will benefit the local economy at Port Augusta. It will support jobs and it will benefit what is, to a certain degree, an industry in terms of the build and construct and then the maintaining and housing of those prisoners. As I said, the prison system is just about at full capacity, so I welcome any projects to improve the situation and I commend the report to the house.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:12): I rise to support this project, as have the members for Stuart and Chaffey, who have given adequate reasons. I would point out that ever since the extension of Mobilong was announced and then dumped by the former Rann government, we have been in crisis management as far as prison accommodation goes in South Australia.

We find regularly that we are doing upgrades and increasing numbers by way of container accommodation, which is quite good, I might add. I actually had a letter from a prisoner the other day who is a constituent of mine who is currently 'away' but who is in the new accommodation in Mount Gambier and he is pretty happy down there, so it is good. I do not know what the current government's long-term plan is, but we are doing add-ons in prisons all around the state by way of containers.

I have an interest in correctional services. I have visited not all of the prisons but most of them. We will have another one shortly, I would suggest, but of course the ice epidemic, the drug epidemic and the outcome of the Mulligan inquiry have really led to a huge growth in prison numbers in South Australia, and it just has to be dealt with.

I pay my respects to the Correctional Services staff from the top, from the administrative side down through the officers who work in the prisons. They do a good job under a lot of duress. Having said that, and in an effort to wind up this particular debate, I support the project.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:14): Thank you to the members for Stuart, Chaffey and Finniss for speaking to this particular report. I would like thank the members of the Public Works Committee, for their hard work in everything they do, and all the people who submitted, and I recommend the report to the house.

Motion carried.