Adelaide Remand Centre

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services. Minister, who was responsible for banning prisoners from the Remand Centre kitchen preceding an immediate security review? With your leave and that of the house, I will explain, sir.

The SPEAKER: Leave is sought—

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: It's Captain America. Get the shield out.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee will leave for the remainder of question time under 137A.

The honourable member for Lee having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Energy and Mining on a point of order?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, Speaker. Before seeking leave, the member's question breaks standing order 97, when he says, 'Who is responsible for banning,' etc., etc.

The SPEAKER: Again, I am satisfied there is a foundation with which to seek leave to explain. The member of Elizabeth I think has sought leave; is leave granted?

Leave granted.

Mr ODENWALDER: Hannah Foord of Channel 10 is reporting that the Corrections department has banned prisoners from the Remand Centre kitchen and conducted an immediate security review, so I ask the minister: was it the Corrections department, was it Serco, or did the order come from somewhere else?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (15:04): I thank the honourable member for the question. He is obviously responding to a media report. What I would do is I would want to hear the entirety of the media report and the context of the media report and the date and time. When I've got that—

Mr Szakacs: Don't ask me, I'm just the minister.

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham will leave for the remainder of question time under 137A.

The honourable member for Cheltenham having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: When I've got that information, I'm more than happy to have a look at it, process it and—

Mr Malinauskas: You don't know what's going on in your own department.

The SPEAKER: The leader will cease interjecting.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: —respond to it. But, again, clearly all—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat for a moment. Interjections on both sides of the chamber will cease. The Minister for Correctional Services has the call.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I do understand that a direction may have been issued by DCS CE, Mr David Brown, but, as I said, what I will do—because I certainly don't want to mislead the member or the house—is I will go back and I will check exactly what that reporter has said and the context that it has been said in. I will check the entirety and make sure that it's right, and I'm more than happy to provide an update on that particular matter. But I also note that—

Mr Hughes: Sergeant Schultz.

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is warned.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I also note that I'm being asked to furnish details by the opposition that again are clearly subject to investigation. As I reiterated to the house, an investigation is underway. I don't want to in any way, shape or form jeopardise that investigation. It has to take place. It is taking place. We make sure that we get to the bottom of this incident. We want to understand why it occurred and how it occurred and then, once we have had a look at that particular report, we will be in a position to have a look at it and make sure that we do all we can as a government to stop this sort of thing from happening again.

I reiterate to the house that there is an offender out there at the moment. It's very important that police make sure that they capture this offender as soon as possible and that he is brought back into custody at the earliest potential time.