HANSON CALLS FOR AUDITOR-GENERAL TO REVIEW AMC MANAGEMENT
Shadow Minister for Corrections, Jeremy Hanson, will write to the ACT Auditor General requesting a performance audit on the management of the AMC after Simon Corbell was humiliatingly forced to correct himself again for misleading the public, this time over the length of time prisoners at the AMC are in lock down.
“Since the jail commenced operations in March 2009 there have been a series of security, safety, health and management incidents culminating in prisoner’s staging a protest on the roof over the weekend,” Mr Hanson said.
“It is clear that the Minister is being evasive with the facts about the situation at the AMC. Yesterday he told the media no prisoner had been locked down for up to 20 hours, late in the afternoon he was forced to correct himself saying in fact there were at least two separate incidences where this had happened in the previous month.
“The Minister’s inability to either correctly or truthfully answer simple questions about the number and duration of lockdowns at the AMC demonstrates clearly why an audit of the prison’s performance is necessary.
“Simon Corbell has form in blatantly misleading the public. The prison has been plagued by incidents from the sham opening to the loss of sensitive security equipment, breaches of security resulting in drugs and contraband being smuggled inside staff shortages, breaches in internet security and now prisoners protesting on the roof.
“ACT taxpayer’s are paying approximately $500 a day per prisoner which is significantly more than the $263 a day when prisoners were sent to NSW and almost twice what was promised by the Government. There are also serious questions to be asked as to whether the facility is ‘human rights’ compliant as was promised.
“Currently there is a one year review being conducted by the Minister but his actions yesterday and previously give me no confidence that the process will be in anyway open or accountable. I therefore believe, an open, independent, and comprehensive audit of the prison conducted by the Auditor General is necessary.
“Without such an audit I fear we will simply see another cover-up of Corbell’s failures and if changes are potentially further incidents at the AMC,” Mr Hanson said today.
13 April 2010
