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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-15 Daily Xml
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PORT AUGUSTA PRISON

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (14:42): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Correctional Services a question about prison overcrowding.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: The minister has defended—and yesterday in her ministerial statement defended and, indeed, applauded—the practice of doubling up in South Australian prisons; in other words, having two prisoners in a cell. The policy of having two prisoners in a cell ignores the policies of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party. The minister has sought to suggest that I personally have spoken in favour of doubling up. Actually, I have referred to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody to the effect that first time Aboriginal remandees should be housed together.

Recent reports in The Advertiser and on Leon Byner's radio program have indicated that a life prisoner at Port Augusta had two first time remandees with him in a cell, not as a result of the riot in Port Augusta but, rather, over the past two months—two first time remandees with a life prisoner. My questions are:

1. How does the minister justify the trebling up of prisoners and remandees in this way?

2. How does the minister justify remandees being held with convicted life prisoners?

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Gambling, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:44): That is a good question. How does the opposition justify not locking up people when they commit a crime? Port Augusta gaol does have remandees. I understand that many people would think that is preferable, given the distance they have to travel to Adelaide and, also, the fact that some of them are Aboriginal prisoners.

I understand that, of the prisoners involved in the major incident last week, 12 were remandees and, of these, 10 have served previous prison sentences—some extensive, regrettably—and had been remanded for further offences.

The comment made by the honourable member was that we were trebling up. That is not the case, and I again place that on the record. That was not the case at all. Again I place this on the record: we have dormitory style accommodation at the Port Lincoln prison. It is used mostly by our Aboriginal prisoners because they prefer it that way, especially if they have a disaster or problem in their family. They prefer the support of their peers. We also have a division in Yatala—it is now E Division, but it was the old forensic science centre—where, for over 10 years, there were three people in a cell. Clearly, they used to be hospital room-size cells. Again, that has happened on and off for the past 10 years.

I have to acknowledge that we have doubling up in our prisons. Not all cells are doubled up, but I acknowledge that we have double-ups; and it certainly is preferable to having these people on our streets. If opposition members have a problem with that, let them say so, but I am able to sleep at night because these people are off our streets and in our gaols.

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