Page 1375 - Week 04 - Thursday, 12 April 2018
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Chief Justice and as we do across the justice sector, to increase the access to justice for all people here.
MR HANSON: Attorney-General, will you commit to properly funding the courts system to provide an increase in efficiency as has been called for by the Chief Magistrate?
MR RAMSAY: As I think I just said in my previous answer, we will continue to work with the Chief Magistrate to ensure that there is adequate support for the justice system here. We note that there have been significant resources provided and we have appointed two additional special magistrates as well. We are most confident that this will have a positive impact on access to justice here in the ACT.
MS LEE: Attorney-General, did you actually check with the Chief Magistrate about whether the extra magistrate would improve efficiency before you went out and claimed that it would?
MR RAMSAY: Yes.
Alexander Maconochie Centre—motorcycle gang activities
MR WALL: My question is to the Minister for Corrections. I refer to the 2 April 2018 report in the Canberra Times regarding the meeting between a senior manager at the AMC and the ex-boss of the ACT Rebels, an outlaw motorcycle gang. The article reports that the justice directorate conducted an internal investigation and concluded that no further action was required. Minister, do you agree with the directorate’s decision that a senior prison officer having close personal ties with a well-known outlaw bikie gang figure in fact required no further action?
MR RATTENBURY: I note the level of editorialising in Mr Wall’s question in the sense that he seems to have an intimate knowledge of the circumstances of the situation. I did find the report in the paper somewhat colourful, including the fact that they used paragraph four to describe the meal in the photo, the half-eaten meal as the Canberra Times tellingly revealed.
On the substance of the matter, it is important to note that the gentleman named in the article, Mr Stefancic, has not been a client of ACT Corrective Services. He has not been in the custody of ACT Corrective Services at any time. The employee in the photograph is not an intelligence officer, as was asserted in some of conversation. Where allegations of potential criminal conduct are identified, these matters are referred to ACT Policing for investigation, as would be expected.
Personal relationships are not generally a matter for the directorate other than where a conflict of interest, be that perceived or actual, is identified. Of course the perception is very important to get to the bottom of if that is the case. These conflicts of interest are managed within the existing employment framework and policies including the Public Sector Management Act and the directorate’s conflict of interest (close personal relationships) policy.
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