Question Time

Prisoner Numbers

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:26): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police and Correctional Services a question about the prison lockdown.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The latest figures compiled by the Attorney-General's Department say that overcrowding of prisoners is costing the taxpayers of South Australia an extra $51 million a year. This has all been going on under the minister's nose as he continues to seat shop and orchestrate backroom factional deals for his mates and for his plan to move to the lower house, where he will eventually knife the Premier and attempt to take his job.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: He's got the guts to move to the lower house.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I'm what they call a team player; he is not. My question is: when will the minister stop his backroom deals, stop trying to undermine the Premier, and actually focus on his responsibility as minister and clean up the mess in South Australia's prisons?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:27): I'm going to completely ignore the stupidity of components of the Hon. Mr David Wickham Ridgway's question. Instead, I think it would be far more appropriate, and far more in the interests of South Australian taxpayers, if we focused on the issue at hand.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: I am happy to advise the chamber that yesterday evening, industrial disputation commenced between the Public Service Association and the department of corrections regarding an issue that originated from the Mobilong corrections facility. I am even more pleased to explain to the council that, as of this morning, that industrial action was lifted and, as a result, the men and women within Correctional Services at Mobilong Prison returned to work.

At the centre of this dispute is Mobilong Prison and the 104 beds that the South Australian government has invested in, at a cost of $7.4 million, to expand our prison population. Throughout the course of this financial year, 270 new beds are coming online to the corrections system—270 new beds. That comes at an approximate cost of $125 million of South Australian taxpayers' dollars.

My job, as the minister for corrections, is to try to implement as quickly as possible the productive use of those beds, which is why I was incredibly relieved this morning to learn that the PSA and the department of corrections had ended industrial action, and now more productive conciliatory negotiations are underway regarding some operational matters that are entirely within the remit of the department and I believe they have them under control.

We have never sought to make a secret of the challenge that exists within our Correctional Services system. It's one that I quickly identified upon taking up the responsibility of the minister for corrections. I was very quick to denounce the rack 'em, pack 'em rhetoric that was used by a former Labor minister. I don't think that rhetoric is consistent with Labor values, and I don't think it is consistent with the South Australian taxpayers' interests.

We have embarked on a new course in recent times to make sure that we have a short-term as well as a long-term strategy to deal with the challenge we are facing within the correctional system. Maybe I'll just take a moment to inform the honourable members opposite, who have failed to listen up to this point, about what that strategy is. We have put in place a bold strategy to reduce the rate of reoffending. We have put in place a target to reduce the rate of reoffending by 10 per cent by the year 2020. That is a significant undertaking and it won't necessarily be easily achieved.

We appointed a strategic policy panel, chaired by none other than Mr Warren Mundine, which has since handed me a report with comprehensive recommendations that the government is now in the process of responding to, including in this budget process. It is an important process, it is one that we want to get right because we want to realise that target. If we are able to realise that target, we will have saved the South Australian taxpayer money. More importantly, we will have kept more South Australians safe by reducing the rate of recidivism. We have a plan, and I have to say it stands in stark contrast—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: But you are the government, you should have a plan for 15 years, not in the last five minutes to midnight.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: —to those opposite who want to be in government. You are a complete policy vacuum. You stand up here today and you throw around innuendo about backroom factional plays and so forth, when you don't realise that the hallmark of success of this government has been a stable government getting on with the job of developing competent public policy that gets implemented. That is what we are going to continue to do. At the next state election, when it comes to the area of community safety—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! It is totally inappropriate for the minister, while giving an answer, to have to field a barrage of interjections from the opposition bench. So, desist and allow the minister to complete his answer. Minister.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: Mr President, the opposition's interjections speak only to the fact that they don't have any policy. I haven't heard one interjection that represents a policy change. I have cogently argued what the government strategy is, both in the long term and the short term. When you read the opposition's '2036' document, it is full of nothing but motherhood statements. Motherhood statements like, 'Dangerous offenders need to serve jail time'. Well, there's a policy. 'We understand how important it is to work with our legal professionals'. Well, there's a policy. 'South Australians deserve a corrections system that is effective in reducing criminal behaviour'. Well, there's a policy. I think not.

These are simply motherhood statements. We're here to get on with the job. I applaud the department of corrections and the PSA for settling and ending the industrial action so they can get back to work and keep South Australians safe.