Mr MALEY - 2002-02-26
Minister, in one of your previous answers you talked about a meeting with prison officers which, incidentally, occurred on 23 January this year. Can you give a solemn assurance to the members of this House that there was no discussion between you and those prison officers about political interference in relation to the transfer of prisoners between Darwin and Alice Springs on racial grounds? Can you give that solemn assurance?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am not sure where it is heading but, in the absence of the transcript, I cannot say every word that occurred in that session. But I can certainly say this: I have absolutely no recollection of that topic being included in the discussion that we did have. The discussion we did have was about the ongoing issue of prisoner transfers and the unpopularity with some prisoners of being put into one or the other of the two gaols.
I certainly cannot recall any reference to the previous minister or a position he may have put. I can certainly say that there was no presentation on my part along those lines to the prison officers. In fact, if we look at what has actually happened on the ground, if there was something of that sort said, it is very hard to see. Obviously it has not been taken up by Correctional Services because from October to November, over a five week period last year when my colleague was in the ministry, 78 prisoners were transferred to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre from Berrimah because of overcrowding in the Berrimah Gaol. Of these, 47 were Indonesian, nine were Caucasian, 22 were Aboriginal and eight were volunteer transferees. Obviously they are not listening to the ministry if that is what he had to say to them.
Further to that, since November when these figures terminated, there have been no transfers from one prison to the other because we are now below the capacity of each of the prisons. If you are alleging that that sort of assertion was made by my colleague, or that it was restated in some way in that session, I have no recollection whatsoever of that. There was certainly no assertion made from my part along those lines and clearly it is not being reflected in the actions of Correctional Services.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am not sure where it is heading but, in the absence of the transcript, I cannot say every word that occurred in that session. But I can certainly say this: I have absolutely no recollection of that topic being included in the discussion that we did have. The discussion we did have was about the ongoing issue of prisoner transfers and the unpopularity with some prisoners of being put into one or the other of the two gaols.
I certainly cannot recall any reference to the previous minister or a position he may have put. I can certainly say that there was no presentation on my part along those lines to the prison officers. In fact, if we look at what has actually happened on the ground, if there was something of that sort said, it is very hard to see. Obviously it has not been taken up by Correctional Services because from October to November, over a five week period last year when my colleague was in the ministry, 78 prisoners were transferred to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre from Berrimah because of overcrowding in the Berrimah Gaol. Of these, 47 were Indonesian, nine were Caucasian, 22 were Aboriginal and eight were volunteer transferees. Obviously they are not listening to the ministry if that is what he had to say to them.
Further to that, since November when these figures terminated, there have been no transfers from one prison to the other because we are now below the capacity of each of the prisons. If you are alleging that that sort of assertion was made by my colleague, or that it was restated in some way in that session, I have no recollection whatsoever of that. There was certainly no assertion made from my part along those lines and clearly it is not being reflected in the actions of Correctional Services.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016