Yatala Labour Prison Incident

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:23): Supplementary: does the minister therefore infer that the ALRM is an organisation of no substance or consequence, which has called for an independent inquiry—as has the Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement—independent of the coronial process?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:24): I am conscious of the fact that there have been some calls for an independent inquiry, and I think that the best way to respond to an independent inquiry from my perspective is to ensure that one is taking place. I know for a fact that an independent inquiry is taking place because that is what the Coroner is—an utterly independent body.

There is nobody within the Department of Correctional Services, SAPOL or anybody else who has paid attention to the way the Coroner operates who thinks for a second that the Coroner is not going to be acting utterly independently. I have total confidence in the Coroner of South Australia being independent, fulfilling his mandate for thoroughly establishing the cause of death. I have a lot of respect for the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement and their questions and queries, but they should have confidence that an independent inquiry is taking place.

That said, another form of independent inquiry is taking place and that is being conducted by SAPOL. South Australian police are totally independent from the Department for Correctional Services. Let me give you a hot tip: they are utterly separate from each other. SAPOL of course is conducting its own inquires and one of the most elite units within SAPOL, in the form of Major Crime, is conducting it. I am very confident that what we will have, once all these investigations and inquiries have concluded, is the knowledge about exactly what took place regarding Mr Morrison.