❓ Opposition questions the Premier on youth detention improvements following tragic outcomes. Premier defends government's actions, blaming previous administration for current issues at Banksia Hill.
AnsweredQoN 560Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
YOUTH DETENTION — DEATHS IN CUSTODY
560. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. How
can the Premier boast about any significant improvements given there have been
such tragic outcomes?
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
560. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. How
can the Premier boast about any significant improvements given there have been
such tragic outcomes?
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
AnswerView source ↗
Who is running the Liberal Party
today? What does the member stand for? When this tragic event happened, the
shadow Minister for Corrective Services said we should let these young people go—basically,
let them onto the street—without contextualising the community safety
initiatives that are in place.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Mr R.H. COOK : In the next
couple of days the Leader of the Liberal Party was in the paper saying that we
should lock more people up. Today, the former Premier and Leader of the Liberal
Party, Hon Colin Barnett, spoke from his political grave and said we should let
these people out. What does the member stand for? Tell me what she stands for—nothing! She is negative; she
is divisive and she is in disarray. She is chaotic and dysfunctional. We know who runs her party. We only wish the party would deliver us a decent,
consistent line, because that mob is all over the
shop. They have one person saying we should let them out, one person saying we
should lock them up and another person saying, let them all run free!
Let us not forget that it was Colin Barnett's government that lit the
fuse to the powder keg that is the Banksia Hill that we have today. It is
because of your government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Mr R.H. COOK : The Colin
Barnett Liberal–National government is the reason that we have the
difficult situation at Banksia Hill. It closed down the Rangeview Remand
Centre, and, as a result of that, there is an unholy alliance of young,
complex, challenging people, overcrowding a single facility, and that is when
we saw the riots start. That is when we saw the program fall apart. That is
when we saw staff being injured.
Point of Order
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN : The Leader
of the Liberal Party continues to interject. She is incessant. The Premier has
the call and is responding to the question. I ask that she be brought to order.
The SPEAKER : Thank you for
your advice. When the Leader of the Liberal Party interjects, we get a lot of
interjections from backbenchers and ministers. I can hear some of them more
clearly because they are closer to me. That does not help because it is not
quite so obvious that she is interjecting if we have another dozen people who
are also interjecting. I have given a call to order in the Leader of the
Liberal Party's direction a number of times already and, of course, the
ultimate penalty could be that she does not get to ask another question during
this question time. I am aware of her interjections and, yes, they are
disorderly. Premier.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
R.H. COOK : Thank you. I do not
want to steal all the Minister for Corrective Services' material before
the next debate; however, let us not
forget that when we came into government, there were over 150 young people, on
average , in that facility. This was at the time when we had a large
number of people in there. Today, I think the muster is around 54.
Mr P. Papalia : It is 52.
Mr R.H. COOK : There are 52
young people in Banksia Hill, with just four in unit 18.
Mr P. Papalia : Total.
Mr R.H. COOK : Is that in
total?
Mr P. Papalia : There are 47
in Banksia Hill.
Mr R.H. COOK : There are 47 in
Banksia and five in unit 18. That is with the same number of staff. The number
of staff looking after over 150 juveniles on average in detention, when we were
elected, are now looking after just 52 young people. We have significantly improved
the situation. Let us not forget that when we saw those riots occur, 100
juveniles were transferred to an adult prison at Hakea, without any protection,
support, or any notion of the facility you
would expect people of that age to be put in. We have come so far, but we all
know we have far to go. This process
of reform will not stop, because we are committed to the values of
compassionate and just detention . We obviously want to continue to
protect the community, and that is why detention is in place. It is a final
resort; however, we will continue to provide the supports to protect those
young people and our staff, and we will make sure that we continue the pathway
of improvement that we have seen take place at Banksia Hill.
Mr K.J.J. Michel interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Pilbara, we should be up to question 3 by now, but we are not. I give the call
to the member for Swan Hills.
Ms J.J. SHAW : I have not got
many left in me in this term of Parliament, so I should have a go!
today? What does the member stand for? When this tragic event happened, the
shadow Minister for Corrective Services said we should let these young people go—basically,
let them onto the street—without contextualising the community safety
initiatives that are in place.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Mr R.H. COOK : In the next
couple of days the Leader of the Liberal Party was in the paper saying that we
should lock more people up. Today, the former Premier and Leader of the Liberal
Party, Hon Colin Barnett, spoke from his political grave and said we should let
these people out. What does the member stand for? Tell me what she stands for—nothing! She is negative; she
is divisive and she is in disarray. She is chaotic and dysfunctional. We know who runs her party. We only wish the party would deliver us a decent,
consistent line, because that mob is all over the
shop. They have one person saying we should let them out, one person saying we
should lock them up and another person saying, let them all run free!
Let us not forget that it was Colin Barnett's government that lit the
fuse to the powder keg that is the Banksia Hill that we have today. It is
because of your government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Mr R.H. COOK : The Colin
Barnett Liberal–National government is the reason that we have the
difficult situation at Banksia Hill. It closed down the Rangeview Remand
Centre, and, as a result of that, there is an unholy alliance of young,
complex, challenging people, overcrowding a single facility, and that is when
we saw the riots start. That is when we saw the program fall apart. That is
when we saw staff being injured.
Point of Order
Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN : The Leader
of the Liberal Party continues to interject. She is incessant. The Premier has
the call and is responding to the question. I ask that she be brought to order.
The SPEAKER : Thank you for
your advice. When the Leader of the Liberal Party interjects, we get a lot of
interjections from backbenchers and ministers. I can hear some of them more
clearly because they are closer to me. That does not help because it is not
quite so obvious that she is interjecting if we have another dozen people who
are also interjecting. I have given a call to order in the Leader of the
Liberal Party's direction a number of times already and, of course, the
ultimate penalty could be that she does not get to ask another question during
this question time. I am aware of her interjections and, yes, they are
disorderly. Premier.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
R.H. COOK : Thank you. I do not
want to steal all the Minister for Corrective Services' material before
the next debate; however, let us not
forget that when we came into government, there were over 150 young people, on
average , in that facility. This was at the time when we had a large
number of people in there. Today, I think the muster is around 54.
Mr P. Papalia : It is 52.
Mr R.H. COOK : There are 52
young people in Banksia Hill, with just four in unit 18.
Mr P. Papalia : Total.
Mr R.H. COOK : Is that in
total?
Mr P. Papalia : There are 47
in Banksia Hill.
Mr R.H. COOK : There are 47 in
Banksia and five in unit 18. That is with the same number of staff. The number
of staff looking after over 150 juveniles on average in detention, when we were
elected, are now looking after just 52 young people. We have significantly improved
the situation. Let us not forget that when we saw those riots occur, 100
juveniles were transferred to an adult prison at Hakea, without any protection,
support, or any notion of the facility you
would expect people of that age to be put in. We have come so far, but we all
know we have far to go. This process
of reform will not stop, because we are committed to the values of
compassionate and just detention . We obviously want to continue to
protect the community, and that is why detention is in place. It is a final
resort; however, we will continue to provide the supports to protect those
young people and our staff, and we will make sure that we continue the pathway
of improvement that we have seen take place at Banksia Hill.
Mr K.J.J. Michel interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Pilbara, we should be up to question 3 by now, but we are not. I give the call
to the member for Swan Hills.
Ms J.J. SHAW : I have not got
many left in me in this term of Parliament, so I should have a go!
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