Police Holding Facilities

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:53): My questions are to the Minister for Correctional Services:

1. Can the minister assure the council that no prisoner who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment exceeding 15 days is housed in a police holding cell?

2. Can the minister assure the council that prisoners are not being transported from a prison by bus or otherwise, only to be returned to the same prison primarily due to overcrowding?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:53): I thank the honourable member for his questions. It is well known and on the public record that the Department for Correctional Services do, from time to time, use police custody facilities to keep prisoners in custody, where it is appropriate to do so.

There is an understanding and a good collaborative working relationship, as I think all members would reasonably expect, between SAPOL and the Department for Correctional Services to ensure that there is the capacity to be able to use police cells for DCS purposes, if and when it's appropriate to do so, but at the same time doing it in a way that allows for the necessary functions and also police operations, as is required.

Regarding the second part of the honourable member's question regarding the transport of prisoners, that is something that occurs regularly. There is a whole range of reasons why prisoners are transported between facilities. It could be access to rehabilitation programs, it could be for health reasons or it could be moving prisoners for reasons to accommodate visitation. There is a whole range of different reasons why prisoners are moved between facilities; that is, movement between facilities is a part of the day-to-day operation of the Department for Correctional Services and is not remotely unusual in any way.