Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-11-01 Daily Xml

Contents

Correctional Services Department

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:48): I have a supplementary question, based on the minister's answer: does the minister therefore agree, based on his answer, that the policy of rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em, and the reduction in rehabilitation budgets to rehabilitate these prisoners, is now the prime problem he has with an overpopulation of prisoners and many of them choosing to escape?

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:48): I thank the Hon. Mr Brokenshire for his question and, indeed, his ongoing interest in state issues. The answer to the Hon. Mr Brokenshire's question is yes, I do not believe that a policy or the rhetoric of rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em does any good for making the community any safer, which has to be the primary objective, which is exactly why we now have a target of reducing reoffending by 10 per cent, which is exactly why we are putting in additional resources like those that I referred to earlier of investing in criminogenic programs. Our focus as a government has to be on reducing the rate of reoffending because that, of course, means less crime and fewer victims and we have also got the added benefit of potentially saving the South Australian taxpayer a lot of money.