❓ Mr. Love asks the Premier to release the business case for a new youth detention facility, following a meeting with human rights officials. The Premier details the meeting and government efforts to improve youth detention, but does not directly address the release of the business case.
AnsweredQoN 602Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
YOUTH DETENTION —
INFRASTRUCTURE BUSINESS CASE
602. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
Yesterday, the Premier met with a group
of officials, including the Human Rights Commissioner, the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and the National Children's
Commissioner, amid his government's ongoing unit 18 crisis. The Premier
stated that his government has developed a business case for the new youth
detention facility, which was surely on the agenda for yesterday's
discussion. Will the Premier release the business case for the new youth
detention facility?
INFRASTRUCTURE BUSINESS CASE
602. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
Yesterday, the Premier met with a group
of officials, including the Human Rights Commissioner, the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and the National Children's
Commissioner, amid his government's ongoing unit 18 crisis. The Premier
stated that his government has developed a business case for the new youth
detention facility, which was surely on the agenda for yesterday's
discussion. Will the Premier release the business case for the new youth
detention facility?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for the question. It was a great meeting yesterday with
various representatives from the human rights fraternity. We had Lorraine
Finlay, the Human Rights Commissioner; Anne Hollonds, the National Children's Commissioner; and Katie Kiss, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner. Associate Professor Hannah McGlade and Jacqueline
McGowan-Jones, the Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young
People, were also at that meeting. Of course, I was joined by the Minister for
Corrective Services and the Commissioner of Corrective Services, Brad Royce. We
discussed a number of issues, including the incredible tragedy that we have seen at unit 18 and more recently at Banksia Hill
Detention Centre, the efforts of my government to fix up the mess left
to us by the previous government and the progress we are making in relation to
that. We were able to point out that when we
came to government, the average muster was over 154 and that the place was in
uproar. As I said, former Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett lit the
fuse to the powder keg that is Banksia Hill
in recent times by closing down the Rangeview Remand Centre. We also talked
about our commitment to see improvements in that centre.
No-one
wants to see juveniles in detention, but everyone wants to keep our community
safe, and that is our number one priority. While people are in juvenile
detention, we want to make sure that they get the care, programs and services
they need so that they can go on a more rewarding pathway in their lives. We
talked about the fact that although the average muster upon our coming into
government was 154, and although there were 108 juveniles in detention when I became
Premier, yesterday there were just 52. We were also able to point out that
although we do not want those young people to be in detention, if they have to
be, we want them to spend as much time out of their rooms as possible.
Nowadays, many juveniles are receiving up to eight hours, or longer, outside
their rooms to make sure that they can continue to receive the educational,
recreational and social services they need while within the facility.
It is fair to say that the
commissioners and other representatives at the meeting want to see an end to
juvenile detention, and ideally that would be a very good thing. They
understand the efforts we are making but they want us to do more, and we want
to do more as well. We emphasised the importance of continuing to change the
culture within corrective services staff, how we will continue to change the
way we deliver these services and how we will continue to commit ourselves to a
pathway of reform. I think they respected those efforts and they want us to do
more. We share their passion.
thank the member for the question. It was a great meeting yesterday with
various representatives from the human rights fraternity. We had Lorraine
Finlay, the Human Rights Commissioner; Anne Hollonds, the National Children's Commissioner; and Katie Kiss, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner. Associate Professor Hannah McGlade and Jacqueline
McGowan-Jones, the Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young
People, were also at that meeting. Of course, I was joined by the Minister for
Corrective Services and the Commissioner of Corrective Services, Brad Royce. We
discussed a number of issues, including the incredible tragedy that we have seen at unit 18 and more recently at Banksia Hill
Detention Centre, the efforts of my government to fix up the mess left
to us by the previous government and the progress we are making in relation to
that. We were able to point out that when we
came to government, the average muster was over 154 and that the place was in
uproar. As I said, former Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett lit the
fuse to the powder keg that is Banksia Hill
in recent times by closing down the Rangeview Remand Centre. We also talked
about our commitment to see improvements in that centre.
No-one
wants to see juveniles in detention, but everyone wants to keep our community
safe, and that is our number one priority. While people are in juvenile
detention, we want to make sure that they get the care, programs and services
they need so that they can go on a more rewarding pathway in their lives. We
talked about the fact that although the average muster upon our coming into
government was 154, and although there were 108 juveniles in detention when I became
Premier, yesterday there were just 52. We were also able to point out that
although we do not want those young people to be in detention, if they have to
be, we want them to spend as much time out of their rooms as possible.
Nowadays, many juveniles are receiving up to eight hours, or longer, outside
their rooms to make sure that they can continue to receive the educational,
recreational and social services they need while within the facility.
It is fair to say that the
commissioners and other representatives at the meeting want to see an end to
juvenile detention, and ideally that would be a very good thing. They
understand the efforts we are making but they want us to do more, and we want
to do more as well. We emphasised the importance of continuing to change the
culture within corrective services staff, how we will continue to change the
way we deliver these services and how we will continue to commit ourselves to a
pathway of reform. I think they respected those efforts and they want us to do
more. We share their passion.
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