Mr STYLES - 2012-11-29
Can you please explain to the House the consequences of the former government’s new era policy in corrections?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I listened carefully to the minister for Corrections when I was in opposition as the shadow minister for Corrections. He would bang on about the new era in corrections. However, short of building a massively overpriced gaol, what more came out of the new era in corrections? I cannot say it was a great deal.
The Barkly Work Camp was a good idea but not much to crow about - the expenditure of $5m to house some prisoners in Barkly. Lost opportunity after lost opportunity is what the new era represented to the people of the Northern Territory.
The Stronger Futures program arrangements with the federal government, which deals with education, health and any number of other areas, passed the former minister by. Not a skerrick; not a shekel coming from the Stronger Futures arrangement into our corrections system. Why not? Why would you not go to Stronger Futures and say, ‘We have an opportunity to educate and get people jobs through a captive audience which is, unfortunately, about 90% Aboriginal’. We did not go down that path because the former minister was asleep at the wheel.
The other thing that struck me when I took a tour of the prisons once I became the Corrections minister in the Northern Territory was, for all of the talk about work and effort the member for Barkly made, and the rhetoric when he was on this side of the House, I did not see a great deal of movement. There was not a great deal of work being done in prisons. As far as we, on this side of the House, and I am concerned as the Corrections minister, we have a source of labour in those prisons …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I have given the minister two minutes and have listened to his answer. He has denied Territorians the fact of community corrections ...
Madam SPEAKER: Members, I said at the beginning of Question Time I will enforce the ruling of one member on their feet at a time - government, opposition and Independent. There is no point of order. Minister, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK: Thank you, Madam Speaker. With the loss of so much time to answer the question, I will say this: unfortunately, the former government failed. It failed in so many areas and in so many opportunities because of the lack of competent management from a minister who was prepared to read out anything that was shoved in his hand rather than drive corrections ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I listened carefully to the minister for Corrections when I was in opposition as the shadow minister for Corrections. He would bang on about the new era in corrections. However, short of building a massively overpriced gaol, what more came out of the new era in corrections? I cannot say it was a great deal.
The Barkly Work Camp was a good idea but not much to crow about - the expenditure of $5m to house some prisoners in Barkly. Lost opportunity after lost opportunity is what the new era represented to the people of the Northern Territory.
The Stronger Futures program arrangements with the federal government, which deals with education, health and any number of other areas, passed the former minister by. Not a skerrick; not a shekel coming from the Stronger Futures arrangement into our corrections system. Why not? Why would you not go to Stronger Futures and say, ‘We have an opportunity to educate and get people jobs through a captive audience which is, unfortunately, about 90% Aboriginal’. We did not go down that path because the former minister was asleep at the wheel.
The other thing that struck me when I took a tour of the prisons once I became the Corrections minister in the Northern Territory was, for all of the talk about work and effort the member for Barkly made, and the rhetoric when he was on this side of the House, I did not see a great deal of movement. There was not a great deal of work being done in prisons. As far as we, on this side of the House, and I am concerned as the Corrections minister, we have a source of labour in those prisons …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I have given the minister two minutes and have listened to his answer. He has denied Territorians the fact of community corrections ...
Madam SPEAKER: Members, I said at the beginning of Question Time I will enforce the ruling of one member on their feet at a time - government, opposition and Independent. There is no point of order. Minister, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK: Thank you, Madam Speaker. With the loss of so much time to answer the question, I will say this: unfortunately, the former government failed. It failed in so many areas and in so many opportunities because of the lack of competent management from a minister who was prepared to read out anything that was shoved in his hand rather than drive corrections ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016