❓ Question regarding the lack of applications to move 18-year-old detainees from Banksia Hill to adult facilities, met with a combative response focusing on the questioner's past performance and the upcoming legislation.
AnsweredQoN 334Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BANKSIA HILL DETENTION
CENTRE — ADULT OFFENDERS
334. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Corrective Services:
I have a supplementary question. If,
as the Premier says, the 18-year-olds are part of the problem in Banksia Hill,
why has not one application been made by the minister's department to
the Children's Court in the last 12 months to remove a detainee of this
age?
CENTRE — ADULT OFFENDERS
334. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Corrective Services:
I have a supplementary question. If,
as the Premier says, the 18-year-olds are part of the problem in Banksia Hill,
why has not one application been made by the minister's department to
the Children's Court in the last 12 months to remove a detainee of this
age?
AnswerView source ↗
If the member wants to vote against
the legislation, that is up to her. If she does not agree with the policy
position of the government, she should vote against the legislation. If she
agrees with the policy position of the government, she should vote in favour of
the legislation. I understand that there is a separate issue about the
discretion, not of the government or the Crown, but of the President of the
Children's Court. That is not what we are discussing in our
legislation. Our legislation is unrelated to the current arrangements.
It is the born-to-rule attitude of
this failed member. She failed as a minister, she failed as Leader of the
Opposition, and she is failing in her thinking. The failure of her thinking
here is that this is not a question of discretion: children and adults should
not be housed in the same correctional facility. If the member thinks —
Ms M.J. Davies : You haven't
even asked. It's just another opportunity for the Premier to stand up
and make a big tough-on-crime announcement.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : No, I am
sorry; there is clearly confusion in that interjection. This has nothing to do
with being tough on crime. The point here is that we are discussing people who
the court has said should be detained. We are not asking for more people to be
detained. That is why the number of young offenders detained today is half that
of what it was when the member was a minister. She believes that there are too
many young offenders in detention, yet when
she had a chance to do anything about it, there were twice as many young
offenders in detention.
As I keep saying: if the member
thinks that adults should be housed in a youth offending facility, she should
vote against the legislation. If she agrees with the government that young
offenders should be housed in the prison estate, she should vote in favour of
the legislation.
the legislation, that is up to her. If she does not agree with the policy
position of the government, she should vote against the legislation. If she
agrees with the policy position of the government, she should vote in favour of
the legislation. I understand that there is a separate issue about the
discretion, not of the government or the Crown, but of the President of the
Children's Court. That is not what we are discussing in our
legislation. Our legislation is unrelated to the current arrangements.
It is the born-to-rule attitude of
this failed member. She failed as a minister, she failed as Leader of the
Opposition, and she is failing in her thinking. The failure of her thinking
here is that this is not a question of discretion: children and adults should
not be housed in the same correctional facility. If the member thinks —
Ms M.J. Davies : You haven't
even asked. It's just another opportunity for the Premier to stand up
and make a big tough-on-crime announcement.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : No, I am
sorry; there is clearly confusion in that interjection. This has nothing to do
with being tough on crime. The point here is that we are discussing people who
the court has said should be detained. We are not asking for more people to be
detained. That is why the number of young offenders detained today is half that
of what it was when the member was a minister. She believes that there are too
many young offenders in detention, yet when
she had a chance to do anything about it, there were twice as many young
offenders in detention.
As I keep saying: if the member
thinks that adults should be housed in a youth offending facility, she should
vote against the legislation. If she agrees with the government that young
offenders should be housed in the prison estate, she should vote in favour of
the legislation.
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