Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Prisoner Numbers Prisoner Numbers The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS Legislative Council Prisoner Numbers The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:39): Supplementary question: is the minister aware of the Public Works Committee's report, tabled in the other place on 20 September this year, that the projected daily average of inmates incarcerated in South Australian prisons will rise to 3,647 by 2021-22, which is 404 inmates above capacity for the same period? How does the minister plan to securely accommodate these inmates? The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS Legislative Council Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety Prisoner Numbers The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:40): I have already articulated what the government's strategy is regarding the future prison population. In the immediate term, we have got builds underway to increase the number of beds that exist within the prison system. That also constitutes part of our medium-term strategy, with other builds happening over a longer time horizon than what is exactly taking place as we speak. In the long term, one of the government's tasks in dealing with the foreshadowed prison population is to reduce the rate of reoffending: an incredibly important strategy, an incredibly important piece of policy that, if successful, will go a long way to alleviating a number of concerns that exist within the community, not the least of which is the demand on prison beds within the prison system.