Page 1292 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2011
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25 years. But what we are finding out today in the Hamburger report, as I think we probably guessed earlier when we saw the capacity constraints, is that the Chief Minister’s decision—Simon Corbell’s decision—to reduce the capacity that was planned for the centre from 374 beds to 300 beds has led to a situation that places constraints on the delivery of services to detainees and the management of the safety and security of the correctional centre.
I am sure that there are many other issues that we will address, and I will go through this report in detail to look at them, but I want to make it very clear that Simon Corbell should not go out today lauding the Hamburger report as a glowing endorsement because, quite clearly, from just the most cursory viewing of the findings and recommendations, it is anything but.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (10.43): I would just like to make a statement on the report. Obviously, as Mr Hanson said, this is a very detailed report and we will be going through it. We will just note that it is good that this report did not get leaked. That has been a positive with regard to this. There are a couple of points. Obviously, I have only had a quick look through, but the report notes that, while there are some operational shortcomings, there is evidence that the human rights culture is being adhered to. That is a good thing to see, because obviously it was set out from the start that it would be a human rights compliant prison. So it is a positive to see that is one aspect that has been adhered to.
The report notes, as Mr Hanson has said, in terms of the pre-commissioning stage that some of what was translated in that stage has not come through, that the vision objectives have not come through in the first 12 months of operation. That is one of the concerns that have been expressed to us by various community organisations and groups that are associated with the prison and run services there. In particular, the report makes note of counselling services. Again, that is one of the specific concerns that have been raised with us.
This is a very detailed report. I have not presumed that I have obtained all the knowledge in just a few minutes from reading this report. We will go through it. I thank the minister for tabling it today and for having an independent review, which I think is a positive thing. We will be going through the various pieces of information which have been put here and, I am sure, commenting on that.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Land and Property Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage) (10.45): I will not take the time today to debate the detail of the report, other than to say that it is important to put the report into some context—the Alexander Maconochie Centre has been open for just on two years. It is a new prison.
It is the first time this jurisdiction has had a prison and it was always obvious in relation to an undertaking of this magnitude, of this order and, to be honest, of this difficulty that the creation, the construction and the delivery of a major, state-of-the-art, world standard prison and its management would be an undertaking
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