Yatala Labour Prison Incident

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:26): I am amazed that the minister cannot tell us when he was first advised and I expect we are not going to find out.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Point of order, Mr President. On the matter of the supplementary question, there is no debate to be entered into. The honourable member has to ask his question.

The PRESIDENT: Will the honourable Leader of the Opposition just ask the question.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Will the minister be taking any action on this matter before the Coroner's inquiry commences and, if so, what will his action be?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:26): What is more important as a result of the incident that transpired last Friday within Yatala Labour Prison—the most important thing to be pursued is the truth. What we need to know more than anything else, to be able to develop an informed policy response, if indeed one is required at all, what is important is that we find out exactly what transpired.

I have complete confidence that through the course of SAPOL's investigation which, of course, as I have already publicly disclosed, the police commissioner has allocated substantial resources to finding out what transpired at Yatala on Friday. He has committed resources from SAPOL major crime to oversee and conduct the investigation which, of course, is the most elite investigative unit that exists within SAPOL. So, through SAPOL's investigation, and in conjunction with the inquiry that the Coroner will undertake as a result of the prisoner's passing, we will find out the truth, and once we know exactly what transpired on Friday afternoon, from there we can start to develop a policy response, if indeed one is required.

I have complete confidence in the independence of SAPOL, and I have complete confidence in the independence of the Coroner to be able to ascertain exactly what transpired at Yatala Labour Prison on Friday. Once we know the details of that, we will be able to develop a policy response to work out if one is required at all.