❓ Question regarding the Greenough Regional Prison break and holding the government accountable for failures in corrective services. Premier deflects blame to previous government's prison placement.
AnsweredQoN 1003Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GREENOUGH REGIONAL
PRISON — CRITICAL INCIDENT REVIEW —MINISTER FOR CORRECTIVE
SERVICES
1003. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
comments in Parliament in 2013 that —
The failures in the corrective
services portfolio are the government's failures.
And —
All of the incompetence around these
things is on the shoulders of the government.
Does the Premier consider —
Mr D.J. Kelly interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister for
Water, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : Are you
going to headbutt her this time?
Mr D.J. Kelly interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister for
Water, I call you to order for the second time.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, we will
not have any conversations across the chamber unless you are talking to me.
Withdrawal of Remark
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI : I ask the member for Scarborough to withdraw the comment
she made across the chamber.
Mrs L.M.
HARVEY : I withdraw.
The
SPEAKER : I did not hear it.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr M. McGowan interjected.
The SPEAKER : Make a point of
order.
Mr M.
McGOWAN : The member for Scarborough interjected across the chamber
at the member for Bassendean.
Mr V.A. Catania : Under what
standing order?
The SPEAKER : Under the
standing order, member for North West Central, that you are on three calls.
Mr M. McGOWAN : She
interjected across the chamber, ''Are you going to headbutt her again
this time?'' That is a comment worthy of expulsion from this chamber.
Dr M.D.
NAHAN : Could I have an indication of what standing order that was
under?
The SPEAKER : Member, if there
is something that is unparliamentary, I will take it without the standing order
number. Member for Scarborough, did you say that across the chamber?
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I have
withdrawn my comment, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : I just want to
know what it was that you said.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : That is what
I said. Mr Speaker, I will draw your attention to members on that side accusing
me of criminal conduct.
The SPEAKER : No, you cannot
do that.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I have
withdrawn it.
The SPEAKER : I know you have
withdrawn it, and if it had been mentioned to me when it was said, I would have
ejected you from the chamber, because that sort of stuff is not —
Mr D.C.
NALDER : You are setting a precedent, so when she is accused of
criminal activity, would you say that that would also incite —
The SPEAKER : Sit down; it is
not a point of order.
Members, I just said that if I had
heard what the member said when the motion was put up, I would have sent her
out of the chamber, but I did not, so it is not going to happen. I have
accepted the apology and now the Leader of the National Party has the call.
Questions without
Notice Resumed
Ms M.J. DAVIES : My question
is to the Premier. I refer to the Premier's comments in Parliament in
2013 that —
The failures in the corrective
services portfolio are the government's failures.
And —
All of the incompetence around these
things is on the shoulders of the government.
Does the Premier consider the
largest prison break in WA history at Greenough Regional Prison to be a failure
of his government?
PRISON — CRITICAL INCIDENT REVIEW —MINISTER FOR CORRECTIVE
SERVICES
1003. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
comments in Parliament in 2013 that —
The failures in the corrective
services portfolio are the government's failures.
And —
All of the incompetence around these
things is on the shoulders of the government.
Does the Premier consider —
Mr D.J. Kelly interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister for
Water, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : Are you
going to headbutt her this time?
Mr D.J. Kelly interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister for
Water, I call you to order for the second time.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, we will
not have any conversations across the chamber unless you are talking to me.
Withdrawal of Remark
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI : I ask the member for Scarborough to withdraw the comment
she made across the chamber.
Mrs L.M.
HARVEY : I withdraw.
The
SPEAKER : I did not hear it.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr M. McGowan interjected.
The SPEAKER : Make a point of
order.
Mr M.
McGOWAN : The member for Scarborough interjected across the chamber
at the member for Bassendean.
Mr V.A. Catania : Under what
standing order?
The SPEAKER : Under the
standing order, member for North West Central, that you are on three calls.
Mr M. McGOWAN : She
interjected across the chamber, ''Are you going to headbutt her again
this time?'' That is a comment worthy of expulsion from this chamber.
Dr M.D.
NAHAN : Could I have an indication of what standing order that was
under?
The SPEAKER : Member, if there
is something that is unparliamentary, I will take it without the standing order
number. Member for Scarborough, did you say that across the chamber?
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I have
withdrawn my comment, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : I just want to
know what it was that you said.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : That is what
I said. Mr Speaker, I will draw your attention to members on that side accusing
me of criminal conduct.
The SPEAKER : No, you cannot
do that.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I have
withdrawn it.
The SPEAKER : I know you have
withdrawn it, and if it had been mentioned to me when it was said, I would have
ejected you from the chamber, because that sort of stuff is not —
Mr D.C.
NALDER : You are setting a precedent, so when she is accused of
criminal activity, would you say that that would also incite —
The SPEAKER : Sit down; it is
not a point of order.
Members, I just said that if I had
heard what the member said when the motion was put up, I would have sent her
out of the chamber, but I did not, so it is not going to happen. I have
accepted the apology and now the Leader of the National Party has the call.
Questions without
Notice Resumed
Ms M.J. DAVIES : My question
is to the Premier. I refer to the Premier's comments in Parliament in
2013 that —
The failures in the corrective
services portfolio are the government's failures.
And —
All of the incompetence around these
things is on the shoulders of the government.
Does the Premier consider the
largest prison break in WA history at Greenough Regional Prison to be a failure
of his government?
AnswerView source ↗
What I said back then was correct.
At that point in time the government had been in office for five years. At the
time of the breakout we had been in office for fewer than 18 months, and we
know that the reason for the breakout was largely that the former government
put the women's prison right there with a men's prison.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr M. McGOWAN : When the
former government did that, it created a powder keg.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Dawesville!
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
National Party!
Mr M. McGOWAN : Anyone who has
any knowledge of prisoners in their 20s would understand that, but that is what
the former government did. It separated them by a tennis court fence. What were
we to do? Somehow, within 18 months, we were supposed to have fixed the problem
that the former government created.
I want to make this second point very clear. We have engaged
in a very, very serious process of reform within the corrective services
portfolio over the course of our time in office, which this minister has led.
It has resulted in an additional 900 beds across the prison estate and 281
prison officers being employed in order to deal with some of the pressures we
confronted when we came to office and to make sure we dealt with some of the
overtime pressures as well. If more full-time
prison officers are employed, we are able to deal with some of that very
expensive overtime pressure on the prison budget and make sure we take the
pressure off the prison officers who are already employed.
I note something else that is worth
raising: in the debate that occurred before question time, the Leader of the
Opposition made excuses for the prisoners escaping. He made excuses for them.
He made excuses for their behaviour. As the minister has said, the adaptive
regime that was put in place has been put in place in prisons all over
Australia and all over the world to deal with shortfalls in staff on any given
day—people who are sick, people who have taken long service leave or
whatever it might be. On any given day, that is what occurs. Even if a prison
is fully staffed, on occasion adaptive regimes are put in place because of a rise
in the temperature. A rise in the temperature outside or a rise in the heat of
the environment sometimes means adaptive regimes are put in place. It is not
unusual for that to occur in a prison. As I have been advised, some of the
prisoners' complaints were that they did not get to kick the football
enough; therefore, they decided to riot and create mayhem. To me, that is not
good enough. Those prisoners deserve a significantly longer prison sentence,
and I look forward to them going before the courts to answer for their actions.
At that point in time the government had been in office for five years. At the
time of the breakout we had been in office for fewer than 18 months, and we
know that the reason for the breakout was largely that the former government
put the women's prison right there with a men's prison.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr M. McGOWAN : When the
former government did that, it created a powder keg.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Dawesville!
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
National Party!
Mr M. McGOWAN : Anyone who has
any knowledge of prisoners in their 20s would understand that, but that is what
the former government did. It separated them by a tennis court fence. What were
we to do? Somehow, within 18 months, we were supposed to have fixed the problem
that the former government created.
I want to make this second point very clear. We have engaged
in a very, very serious process of reform within the corrective services
portfolio over the course of our time in office, which this minister has led.
It has resulted in an additional 900 beds across the prison estate and 281
prison officers being employed in order to deal with some of the pressures we
confronted when we came to office and to make sure we dealt with some of the
overtime pressures as well. If more full-time
prison officers are employed, we are able to deal with some of that very
expensive overtime pressure on the prison budget and make sure we take the
pressure off the prison officers who are already employed.
I note something else that is worth
raising: in the debate that occurred before question time, the Leader of the
Opposition made excuses for the prisoners escaping. He made excuses for them.
He made excuses for their behaviour. As the minister has said, the adaptive
regime that was put in place has been put in place in prisons all over
Australia and all over the world to deal with shortfalls in staff on any given
day—people who are sick, people who have taken long service leave or
whatever it might be. On any given day, that is what occurs. Even if a prison
is fully staffed, on occasion adaptive regimes are put in place because of a rise
in the temperature. A rise in the temperature outside or a rise in the heat of
the environment sometimes means adaptive regimes are put in place. It is not
unusual for that to occur in a prison. As I have been advised, some of the
prisoners' complaints were that they did not get to kick the football
enough; therefore, they decided to riot and create mayhem. To me, that is not
good enough. Those prisoners deserve a significantly longer prison sentence,
and I look forward to them going before the courts to answer for their actions.
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