HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-25 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

PRISONERS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen) (15:21): My question is, again, to the Minister for Correctional Services. Has the minister decided against renewing prisoner movement contracts or will he endorse Liberal Party policy? In the aforementioned press release of 5 March, the minister said:

Prisoner movement contracts were privatised by the former Liberal government. Obviously we can't unscramble the egg now.

The prisoner movement and in-court management contract was renewed on 1 July 2007 by the Rann government and renewed again on 1 July 2008. It expires in three months, and my question therefore is: will the minister again endorse the Liberal policy?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Gambling, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:22): The opposition has a very curious tactic here. First, it criticises the way we move prisoners, and then it says, 'Please endorse our position on the way you move prisoners', even though it set up the system. The opposition also then says, 'Please don't make prisoners double up because that is dangerous', yet the opposition also had that policy. The Liberal Party is a little hypocritical when it comes to policies regarding prisoners.

I have always found interesting how much the Liberal Party and the opposition care about prisoner rights. I find it interesting in terms of the debate we are having about the Royal Adelaide Hospital and about prisoners. It is very interesting that the current Leader of the Opposition wants the RAH to stay as it is on its present site where patients are four to a room but he wants all our prisoners to be in their own accommodation by themselves. I find these two contradictions very amusing.

We do not apologise for the way we treat prisoners. We treat prisoners humanely, we move them humanely and we will keep on moving them humanely, but I tell members that I will not risk negotiations on the new contract—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I will say that I, too, was angry about that incident. It was a lapse in judgment, and we are seeking Crown advice, as I said earlier to the house, about what action we can take. But I tell the house that we will not apologise about making prisoners double up. We will not apologise about that at all. The people who should be apologising are opposition members, because they want prisoners to have their own luxurious accommodation by themselves but they are happy for patients to be four to a room. That is the difference.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT