HA Wednesday 25 September 2019
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Wednesday 25 September 2019 The Speaker, Ms Hickey, took the Chair at 10 a.m., acknowledged the Traditional People and read Prayers. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS Madam SPEAKER - Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of guests from the Adult Education class, the Corridors of Power. Welcome to parliament. Members - Hear, hear. QUESTIONS Community Safety - Prison Escapees Ms WHITE question to PREMIER, Mr HODGMAN [10.02 a.m.] Tasmanians are rightly outraged that a dangerous and violent criminal with a history of escaping custody was placed in minimum security and was able to so easily jump the fence. It is only thanks to the work of Tasmania Police that Graham John Enniss is back in custody. This is just the latest in your Government's series of failures to keep Tasmanians safe. Another offender remains at large in Burnie, after running out the door of the Burnie Police Station. Mrs Rylah - Did you read this morning's Advocate? We have been there. Get your facts right. Madam SPEAKER - Order, Mrs Rylah. Ms WHITE - Prisoners have been released by mistake because you cut funding for the critical IT upgrades. Rather than an internal review, will you commit to a full and independent inquiry into the custodial system so that Tasmanians can be assured that they are safe in their homes and that these dangerous failures will not continue to happen? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. Members interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - Order, please. Could we have some discipline? Mr HODGMAN - It was under a Labor-Greens government that there was not only an audit into the operations of our Tasmania Police Service but an inquiry by the Integrity Commission no less into the management of Tasmania's Prison Service. Ms O'Connor - Commissioned by the minister, an independent audit. 1 25 September 2019 Madam SPEAKER - Order. Mr HODGMAN - I acknowledge the excellent work undertaken by the TPS, our prison service and also Tasmania Police. I thank them and all those who work in a very difficult environment. We extend our thanks to them and our ongoing support for them in their place of work. We also strongly regret the level of concern within our community and we understand it. It is not acceptable for prisoners to be escaping lawful custody. Will you apologise for the 28 who escaped our prisons when you were in government? We will accept responsibility. We extend our regret to the community impacted by it, but I have not heard a peep from Labor about what happened when they were in government. Their track record was absolutely appalling. Members interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - Ms O'Byrne and Ms O'Connor, I am allowing a bit of tolerance. Mr HODGMAN - As I say, more needs to be done and is being done. Yesterday I referred to the infrastructure upgrades that were being done in our prison service - the building of new prison infrastructure as opposed to the selling of prisons under Labor. We have made investments into improved systems to ensure that management of our prison population is contemporary - with $24.5 million we are investing to do just that. That did not happen when Labor was in government when the system was a shambles. Mr O'Byrne interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - Order, Mr O'Byrne. Warning one. Mr HODGMAN - We are investing not only in the infrastructure - Ms WHITE - Point of order, Madam Speaker. It goes to standing order 45 on relevance. I asked the Premier whether he would commit to an independent investigation rather than an internal review. I ask if you would draw his attention to the question, please? Madam SPEAKER - That is not a point of order, as you well know, but I have allowed it on Hansard. There you go. Mr HODGMAN - I was going to inform the House of the additional resources we are putting into our prison service by way of additional correctional officers. We are investing more than happened under Labor and the Greens. We are seeing far fewer escapes now. I note an interjection from the member for Lyons who, frankly, should apologise and correct the record for dishonestly stating something in this place yesterday in question time, which was entirely untrue. It demonstrates that all Labor care about is scaring people. Ms White - You should read the question. Mr O'Byrne - Look up your answer. All of your answers. Ms White - You misled the parliament yesterday. Mr HODGMAN - That is all you are endeavouring to do. We are investing more. 2 25 September 2019 Madam SPEAKER - Mr O'Byrne and Ms White, I am trying to give you leniency, but please do not pressure me. Mr HODGMAN - We are investing more. Our community is safer. Obviously, this is an unacceptable breach and we acknowledge that. It needs to be investigated by the experts, those who manage and operate our prison system, and those authorities that have the expertise to understand the circumstances behind this, and to continue to ensure that our prison system is safe and secure. It needs to be done by experts not armchair critics like the Leader of the Opposition. Community Safety - Prison Excapees Ms WHITE question to PREMIER, Mr HODGMAN [10.07 a.m.] Despite a long history of violence and escapes, including shooting at police and threatening farmers at gunpoint while on the run, Graham John Enniss was in the minimum security Ron Barwick Prison. The Police Association, whose members worked tirelessly for more than 24 hours to return Enniss to custody, is rightfully asking questions about why he was in minimum security. Police Association President, Inspector Colin Riley, said: I just question why he was in minimum security, noting he shot at police and has been reported to escape quite a bit. Given the information I have got, minimum security doesn't seem right. I believe that is only reasonable and I believe that the public thinks that is reasonable. Tom Lynch from the Community Public Sector Union said that prisoners are having their classification downgraded as a result of prison overcrowding. Why was this dangerous and violent criminal in the minimum security Ron Barwick Prison? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question. I repeat what I have said on the Government's appropriate position on this matter. These issues need to be properly investigated by experts, not armchair critics, to understand the circumstances around this matter. There are legitimate questions to be asked. They have been asked by me, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Corrections. Answers will be provided. That is our expectation and that is what the community would have of us. I can inform the member, who basically asks the same questions as she did yesterday, that this matter will be properly investigated. The individual concerned has been taken back into custody without incident and has been reclassified as a maximum security prisoner. The investigation is underway. The immediate review that we have demanded of prisoner classification systems is underway and it would not be appropriate to pre-empt that as the reckless Opposition would have us do. Again I make the point that I do not recall Labor explaining themselves when 28 prisoners escaped from Risdon and when 35 walked out of Ashley. The shadow attorney-general, Ms Haddad, was working at this time for former Labor minister for corrections and attorney- 3 25 September 2019 general, Judy Jackson. In this period the prison system was in crisis and had some of the worst escape rates in the country. During this time there was a multi-day siege at Risdon involving 20 prisoners. Ms WHITE - Point of order, Madam Speaker. The question is, why this person was in the minimum-security prison? The Premier has not answered that question. That is the question Tasmanians are asking and the Government needs to answer it. Madam SPEAKER - Unfortunately, it is not a point of order but the question has been heard and the Premier may answer. Mr HODGMAN - The Opposition think they know it all. They think they understand it all but we will leave this to the experts and will be responsible and considered in our response. It should be allowed to occur. We should not have the unfounded scaremongering we see, or the dishonesty we heard from Opposition members yesterday. All that does is scare people and that delights this Opposition. Members interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - I am making a ruling. Mr O'Byrne has his second warning and the Leader of the Opposition has her first. I plead with you to refrain. Please proceed. Mr HODGMAN - Thank you, Madam Speaker. The longest, saddest faces we saw when news came through that this prisoner had been apprehended were on members opposite. They were so disappointed. Mr O'BYRNE - Point of order, I take offence at that. It is outrageous. To say that we would take joy in someone so dangerous being out in the community, a community that I represent, is offensive. Madam SPEAKER - Your point has been taken. I ask the Premier to consider withdrawing that. Mr HODGMAN - I certainly do, Madam Speaker, but your offensive scaremongering of the people you purport to represent in that community is also shameful and disgraceful given that there was a siege for several days with 20 prisoners involved, including taking hostage one of our prison's staff, under your government and that was not resolved speedily. There were 28 escapes from Risdon and 35 walkouts from Ashley. You are in no position to claim any expertise in this area. Logging in High Conservation Value Forests Ms O'CONNOR question to PREMIER, Mr HODGMAN [10.11 a.m.] Yesterday, in your embarrassing response to our question on your no-show for the climate strike, you praised the Prime Minister for his climate leadership, despite him deciding not to attend the UN Climate Summit, and you suggested your Government is leading on climate.