Mrs FINOCCHIARO - 2014-08-19
You will soon open the new Darwin Correctional Precinct at Holtze. Was a new prison of this magnitude necessary for the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
The shorter answer is no. It was not required because a prison is two things. Unfortunately, the former Labor government in the Northern Territory believed that a prison was one thing. A prison is a building, which is as far as the former Labor government’s attention went in relation to building prisons. They thought prisons are all about constructing buildings. As a consequence, we now have in our possession the prison Mahal, which will soon be transferred to us.
The second component to a prison is what you do inside them. Since we have come to government, we have done a number of things that are fundamentally different to what the former Labor government would have done.
According to the former Labor government’s projections, I should have 1725 prisoners in custody today. In fact, the figure is around 1500 prisoners. On an annual basis, that is a saving of $17m to the taxpayer, simply by changing what we did in the old prison, because we are not yet in the new prison.
Imagine what we could have done with that $17m, as a government, in other areas, including paying off some of the debt legacy that has been handed to us. Moreover, by the time we finish paying off the Labor Party’s new spectacular prison, it will cost the Territory taxpayer $1.8bn in today’s dollar terms. The glorious achievement of the former Labor government, their massive infrastructure project, was to build a new prison to the tune of $1.8bn.
I ask the members opposite …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister neglected to tell Territorians that it is for the repairs and maintenance budget over 30 years.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr ELFERINK: I pick up on the interjection. Yes we are paying off your prison debt for 30 years, congratulations. Great work, mate, beautiful.
Imagine what we could have done with that $1.8bn; we could have sealed a road on the Tiwi Islands perhaps, sealed Port Keats Road, perhaps built a hospital in Palmerston or done more work in remote communities for the delivery of health services. But, no, what we had to build was a gaol to lock up lots of people, because this government simply was not possessed of the imagination required to bring about true reductions in the custodial rates of the Northern Territory. We have achieved it and we will continue to achieve it proudly for the true welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
The shorter answer is no. It was not required because a prison is two things. Unfortunately, the former Labor government in the Northern Territory believed that a prison was one thing. A prison is a building, which is as far as the former Labor government’s attention went in relation to building prisons. They thought prisons are all about constructing buildings. As a consequence, we now have in our possession the prison Mahal, which will soon be transferred to us.
The second component to a prison is what you do inside them. Since we have come to government, we have done a number of things that are fundamentally different to what the former Labor government would have done.
According to the former Labor government’s projections, I should have 1725 prisoners in custody today. In fact, the figure is around 1500 prisoners. On an annual basis, that is a saving of $17m to the taxpayer, simply by changing what we did in the old prison, because we are not yet in the new prison.
Imagine what we could have done with that $17m, as a government, in other areas, including paying off some of the debt legacy that has been handed to us. Moreover, by the time we finish paying off the Labor Party’s new spectacular prison, it will cost the Territory taxpayer $1.8bn in today’s dollar terms. The glorious achievement of the former Labor government, their massive infrastructure project, was to build a new prison to the tune of $1.8bn.
I ask the members opposite …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister neglected to tell Territorians that it is for the repairs and maintenance budget over 30 years.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr ELFERINK: I pick up on the interjection. Yes we are paying off your prison debt for 30 years, congratulations. Great work, mate, beautiful.
Imagine what we could have done with that $1.8bn; we could have sealed a road on the Tiwi Islands perhaps, sealed Port Keats Road, perhaps built a hospital in Palmerston or done more work in remote communities for the delivery of health services. But, no, what we had to build was a gaol to lock up lots of people, because this government simply was not possessed of the imagination required to bring about true reductions in the custodial rates of the Northern Territory. We have achieved it and we will continue to achieve it proudly for the true welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016