❓ Opposition questions the Premier regarding mismanagement at Banksia Hill Detention Centre after a costly riot. The Premier deflects blame, attributing responsibility to the detainees' criminal actions and highlighting government investment in the facility and diversionary programs.
AnsweredQoN 308Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BANKSIA HILL DETENTION
CENTRE — MANAGEMENT
308. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to the ongoing mismanagement
of the Banksia Hill Detention Centre, which has now culminated in a riot—the
latest of many—that has cost the Western Australian community a staggering
$30 million, and to the Premier's failure to listen to the expert
advice regarding this matter, especially over the last six months. Does the
Premier accept that his government's approach has failed?
CENTRE — MANAGEMENT
308. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to the ongoing mismanagement
of the Banksia Hill Detention Centre, which has now culminated in a riot—the
latest of many—that has cost the Western Australian community a staggering
$30 million, and to the Premier's failure to listen to the expert
advice regarding this matter, especially over the last six months. Does the
Premier accept that his government's approach has failed?
AnswerView source ↗
I think that here, once again, the
opposition is trying to blame other people. If people engage in criminal
conduct, if they engage in violence, if they attack people going about their
business, like the guard—the youth custodial officer—was, the
people who did it are responsible. The idea that somehow it then becomes the
government's fault is, once again, an absolving of responsibility. The
more you absolve responsibility, the more you encourage misconduct. All I would
say to the Leader of the Opposition is this: an enormous amount of money is
being spent at Banksia Hill and, as the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs just outlined,
on social programs across the state—for all people. A huge amount of
money is being spent on diversionary programs around the state. At Banksia
Hill, up until last Tuesday, it was $105 million, and now it will be at least
$30 million more, to improve the facilities, to improve the safety of the
facilities for the detainees and the staff, and to put in place additional
social programs such as psychological supports, Aboriginal community workers,
additional educational activities and so forth. All that is ongoing.
I
was going to use the comments of the Liberals and Nationals in the matter of
public interest debate, but I will use them
now. The Liberals' Peter Collier supported the behaviour of the
detainees in there. He supported it. He supported them rioting back in January this year. His
comments are there. That is unacceptable as well. Bad behaviour needs to be called out, whomever it is. It cannot be
constantly excused, because if it is constantly excused, it allows more of it. In many ways—some people have
been talking about this—society has lost its way. We cannot constantly
excuse it. We have to say, ''This is not acceptable. You need to
behave yourself. Take the opportunity that Banksia Hill provides, and all the
other services that are provided, to turn your life around.'' There are
87 detainees there. The reason that they are there—people do not
understand; I will explain it to you all—is that they have committed either multiple serious offences or some extreme
offences. Of those, six have been responsible for homicides, 15 f or
sexual assaults and the rest for multiple occasions of armed robbery and
aggravated burglaries—some in the hundreds of occasions. That is why
they are there: it is a last resort. The numbers in Banksia Hill have declined
by half in the last 10 or 12 years. All the rest are managed in the community
in various programs, activities and so forth. If someone ends up in Banksia
Hill, it is because of a long difficult road. I know that a lot of the
detainees have had difficult lives. As I said to a group of people today, I grew
up in communities with lots of young people who
had difficult lives. I want them to turn their lives around and for their lives
to improve and to take the educational and training opportunities there
for them, but if the opposition constantly says that it is the government's
fault that they are there, rioting and burning things down, what message do
they get? The message they get is ''I am not responsible for my actions'',
and all members opposite do is encourage them. I urge the opposition not to try
to score political points in this, because all it is doing is sending the wrong
message entirely.
opposition is trying to blame other people. If people engage in criminal
conduct, if they engage in violence, if they attack people going about their
business, like the guard—the youth custodial officer—was, the
people who did it are responsible. The idea that somehow it then becomes the
government's fault is, once again, an absolving of responsibility. The
more you absolve responsibility, the more you encourage misconduct. All I would
say to the Leader of the Opposition is this: an enormous amount of money is
being spent at Banksia Hill and, as the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs just outlined,
on social programs across the state—for all people. A huge amount of
money is being spent on diversionary programs around the state. At Banksia
Hill, up until last Tuesday, it was $105 million, and now it will be at least
$30 million more, to improve the facilities, to improve the safety of the
facilities for the detainees and the staff, and to put in place additional
social programs such as psychological supports, Aboriginal community workers,
additional educational activities and so forth. All that is ongoing.
I
was going to use the comments of the Liberals and Nationals in the matter of
public interest debate, but I will use them
now. The Liberals' Peter Collier supported the behaviour of the
detainees in there. He supported it. He supported them rioting back in January this year. His
comments are there. That is unacceptable as well. Bad behaviour needs to be called out, whomever it is. It cannot be
constantly excused, because if it is constantly excused, it allows more of it. In many ways—some people have
been talking about this—society has lost its way. We cannot constantly
excuse it. We have to say, ''This is not acceptable. You need to
behave yourself. Take the opportunity that Banksia Hill provides, and all the
other services that are provided, to turn your life around.'' There are
87 detainees there. The reason that they are there—people do not
understand; I will explain it to you all—is that they have committed either multiple serious offences or some extreme
offences. Of those, six have been responsible for homicides, 15 f or
sexual assaults and the rest for multiple occasions of armed robbery and
aggravated burglaries—some in the hundreds of occasions. That is why
they are there: it is a last resort. The numbers in Banksia Hill have declined
by half in the last 10 or 12 years. All the rest are managed in the community
in various programs, activities and so forth. If someone ends up in Banksia
Hill, it is because of a long difficult road. I know that a lot of the
detainees have had difficult lives. As I said to a group of people today, I grew
up in communities with lots of young people who
had difficult lives. I want them to turn their lives around and for their lives
to improve and to take the educational and training opportunities there
for them, but if the opposition constantly says that it is the government's
fault that they are there, rioting and burning things down, what message do
they get? The message they get is ''I am not responsible for my actions'',
and all members opposite do is encourage them. I urge the opposition not to try
to score political points in this, because all it is doing is sending the wrong
message entirely.
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