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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-15 Daily Xml
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Question Time

POLICE PRISONS

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:23): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Correctional Services a question about police prisons.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Since February 2007, the Adelaide City Watch House has been used to house prisoners for up to 15 days to cope with increased prisoner numbers and South Australia's drastically overcrowded prisons. In the face of Australia's most overcrowded prison system, in November 2007 the government increased the number of metropolitan police stations designated as police prisons from one to six—basically, all the metropolitan police stations with police cells. It was reported yesterday that the Sturt police prison is being prepared to take DCS prisoners. My questions are:

1. Are any DCS prisoners currently being housed in police prisons?

2. What are the government's plans for the use of police prisons in the current overcrowding crisis?

3. What additional DCS resources have been provided to the police to ensure that this expanded custodial role does not distract them from their core duties?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Gambling, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:24): I assume that we all know now that we have a situation in our state following the major incident at Port Augusta, where we needed to find 92—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I am saying 'a major incident'; Wayne Matthew said you only had 'an incident'. We need to find 92 extra beds. So, clearly—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I will start again. We had a major emergency. The department—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I will start again. The department is dealing effectively with a major emergency. We saw the loss of 92 beds—I think I said 90 yesterday, but I will stand corrected if I did—yet the system has been, and is, able to cope. We saw some emergency situations having to be put in place. One of the reasons for that, of course, is that on Monday we had a ban by the PSA on the movement of our prisoners. The movement of prisoners is normal within our present system; people are assessed and they are moved according to that assessment, so that is absolutely nothing new.

I can advise the chamber that seven prisoners were held in the Sturt police holding cells last night. They were on their way late last night from the North and they were held overnight at the Sturt police holding cells and handed over to the department this morning by the GSL. They were oversighted by the GSL. I thank SAPOL for its enormous cooperation in relation to what has clearly been an emergency. I do not think any jurisdiction would have 92 spare beds just in the offing. Again, I thank SAPOL for assisting us in this particular case.

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