Rigney, Mr R.G.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:51): A supplementary. Thank you, minister, for your answer, but I again repeat the question: if the Department for Correctional Services believed they had no legal authority to receive Mr Rigney into Yatala Labour Prison, by what lawful authority could they have stopped him from leaving a secure place? They either have the legal authority to detain the man or they do not.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:51): I was simply making the remark, in my ministerial statement, that had Mr Rigney been accompanied or secured in such a way that his departure from Yatala Labour Prison was prevented, he would not have been able to leave. It is just a simple statement of the obvious.

You are looking for a legal technicality. Had Mr Rigney been detained at Yatala Labour Prison it would have been done with the appropriate legal authority. The fact the DCS staff member who was making the assessment did not realise that lies at the heart of one of the mistakes. However, had he been detained it would have been done legally because it has been ascertained, subsequently of course, that the DCS did have the legal authority to detain him.