Page 1403 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
(n) allegations of a breach of procedures and falsification of documents relating to a death in custody;
(o) the alleged rape and abuse of a detainee at the AMC, leading an ACT Supreme Court Justice to warn the ACT government that “if the community cannot protect someone who is detained then the community cannot expect to retain that detention”;
(p) lockdowns of prisoners for 20 hours a day due to staff shortages and rostering failures leading to a lengthy protest by 13 prisoners on the roof of a prison building;
(q) tacit approval and support by corrections officers for the illegal protest, a result of their own frustration with staffing shortages;
(r) delay and disruption to rehabilitation programs due to staff shortages and lockdowns;
(s) community organisations contracted to run rehabilitation programs at the AMC being turned away from the AMC due to short staffing shortfalls;
(t) only 18 months after opening, the AMC was at capacity and required retrofitting of bunk beds;
(u) the Attorney General repeatedly advised the public and Members of the Assembly that the capacity of the AMC was 300 although it was subsequently revealed as 245 in November 2010; and
(v) the Attorney General and Chief Minister incorrectly advised the public and the Assembly in late 2010 that all prisoners were tested for drugs on entry to the AMC, however opposition questioning revealed in early 2011 that this was not the case;
(5) notes that the:
(a) Assembly previously expressed its serious concern with the Attorney General’s conduct as a minister on 10 February 2009 when, as acting as Minister for Corrections, he made potentially prejudicial comments to the media regarding two prisoners who conducted a roof top protest on the BRC; and
(b) public has lost confidence in the Attorney General’s ability to manage the AMC effectively, reflected by The Canberra Times editorial of 5 April 2011 describing the AMC as a shambolic disappointment; and
(6) censures the Attorney General, Simon Corbell MLA.
I rise today to bring a motion of censure against the Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, for his failure in leadership in the management of corrections in the ACT. And we do not do this lightly. If you look at the notice paper and the motion that I have put forward today, it is unlikely that we will be able to get through the weight of evidence against this minister, because there are five pages of damning evidence in this motion
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video