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

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:26): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Correctional Services a question relating to the availability of prison bed spaces.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In her statement to the council yesterday, the minister stated that prior to last week's incident at Port Augusta Prison—sometimes referred to as a riot—50 bed spaces were available across the system. Yesterday on ABC Radio the acting chief executive of the Department for Correctional Services stated that 92 beds had been taken out of the system as a result of the riot. This leaves the government with a net deficit of 42 beds.

At current growth rates, the prison population increases by about 42 prisoners every three months, which would leave the government needing to find 84 beds before Christmas. My questions to the minister are:

1. How many of the 50 available bed spaces to which she referred yesterday were available for male prisoners?

2. How many beds does the government estimate that it needs by the end of this calendar year and how many beds have been agreed with the PSA?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Gambling, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:27): I am sure that the member is not shocked to learn that prison numbers do change on a day-to-day basis. Not only do prisoners come into our prisons but some prisoners, thankfully, leave when they reach the end of their imprisonment, so the numbers will fluctuate on a day-to-day basis.

My advice today is that, whilst we had over 50 beds when the major incident occurred last Thursday, a lot of those (I think at least 22 on the day) were in the female prison. We also had five spare beds at the Port Augusta Prison on that day.

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Doubled-up beds.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Well, we do not know that. I am sure that the honourable member is just making that up. Indeed, I am sure he is making that up. My advice today is that, this morning, 12 male beds were available and 29 beds at the Adelaide Women's Prison. Clearly, at another time, we had problems finding enough beds for female prisoners. From memory, we had some transportables being constructed a few months ago—or probably more than a few months ago—at the Adelaide Women's Prison. This government clearly does respond to demand.

The $35 million over four years announced in the last budget—I am sure the honourable member remembers that—is factored into the number of beds that we need. We looked at installing 209 extra bed spaces, and I have already announced on a number of occasions that, prior to Christmas, it is certainly our intention to have on line 12 beds at Port Augusta; a special unit for traditional Aboriginal male prisoners; extra beds at Mobilong; and extra beds at Cadell as well. The Mobilong and Cadell beds will be through doubling up, and I think we have been through that one. In the longer term, we are looking at having extra transportables at Port Lincoln.

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I said my apologies; don't get too excited. Goodness gracious! He is very excitable, isn't he?

The Hon. G.E. Gago: They're desperate.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: They are desperate. Good grief!

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Yes. Port Lincoln would be very suitable to have those transportables—within the secure perimeter, of course. If the honourable member had listened yesterday he would have already counted more than 80 beds before Christmas. But, in the meantime, as I said, we had a major incident and we must put in place some interim measures. I thank all those who assisted the government to ensure that the system was well managed.

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