Page 2911 - Week 09 - Thursday, 18 August 2005
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segregating detainees in terms of disability, health or mental health issues or substance issues. To assist in relieving the pressures the ACT government has purchased a transportable accommodation unit, which will allow for increased capacity and flexibility in the classification and placement of residents.
Pending the development of the new facility, it is critical to overcome some of the inadequacies of the existing centre. The new accommodation unit will provide two separate units, totalling 14 bedrooms, central dining and recreation rooms, laundry facilities, a central officer station and secure entry. The time frame for procurement, installation and commissioning of the unit is expected to be five months.
Recognising the current youth detention facility is inadequate and in urgent need of replacement, the ACT government has committed $40 million to the construction of a new facility that will be operational in 2008. On 3 August I released a report identifying four possible sites for the new centre and these are now subject to public consultation.
In conclusion, this government aspires to uphold basic human rights in its dealing with every member of the community, including those who have come into contact with the criminal justice system. This is a fundamental measure of democracy. I commend to members of the Assembly the government’s response to the human rights audit of Quamby detention centre.
Personal explanations
MR PRATT (Brindabella): Mr Speaker, under standing order 46, I seek leave to make a clarification.
MR SPEAKER: Do you claim to have been misrepresented, Mr Pratt?
MR PRATT: This is in relation to question time today, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Pratt.
MR PRATT: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Today in question time the Chief Minister misrepresented a supplementary question that I asked, and I just want to clarify that. The Chief Minister stated, in response a question I asked on to the issue of security measures undertaken in the ACT, that I had alleged that, “Nothing has been done,” that that was the nature of the question. The supplementary question I asked in fact said no such thing. In fact, we have known for quite some time that CBRN, urban SAR and police counter-terrorist measures have been developed over time.
MR SPEAKER: You cannot start a debate about these issues, Mr Pratt. If there is a personal explanation, you have got to stick to the area where you have been misrepresented and then leave the matter. My leave to you to make a personal explanation cannot be used as an artifice to continue the debate about an issue.
MR PRATT: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The supplementary question, as I clarify it now, took aim at Mr Stanhope’s ambivalence about a number of other essential measures. That is what the question was about. It was about other essential measures. I talked about
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