MAITLAND CORRECTIONAL CENTRE
The Hon. J. H. JOBLING: My question without notice is addressed to the Attorney General, and Minister for Justice. There has been speculation by the Australian Labor Party in Maitland that the Minister is planning to close Maitland Correctional Centre in the next few years. Is this the case, or is it simply another example of more Labor lies?
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The Hon. J. P. HANNAFORD: The honourable member is correct in asserting that there has been speculation in the Maitland area concerning the closure of Maitland gaol. It is, in fact, a Tony Keating lie. It came from the local Labor candidate, who recently has circulated a number of untruths about the Maitland Correctional Centre. The types of lies from the elected Opposition representatives are now expected also from their preselected representatives. Maitland Correctional Centre most certainly will not close in the near future. The jobs of the officers at that gaol and the livelihood of the businesses in the Hunter region that support the centre are safe.
I have some doubt about who in the Labor Party might have thought this one up. Keating himself is not capable of an original thought. One might well say that it came from the Federal Labor member, Mr Horne, who is living with the lies of the Labor Party. The suggestion has absolutely no basis and no substance. It is true that the Department of Corrective Services has expressed interest in finding another block of land in the Maitland area to rebuild the Maitland Correctional Centre. The centre is the oldest country correctional centre in New South Wales and is becoming difficult to use. New buildings to provide the needs of a modern day facility are needed. Naturally the Government wants to keep the gaol operation in the Hunter area and recognises that it is an important asset in the region's economy.
This matter has been raised with me not only by the Hon. J. H. Jobling but also by the honourable member for Maitland, Peter Blackmore. Mr Blackmore has been most diligent in representing to me the interests of the employees of the correctional services institution. At least he is acting in the interests of the employees and the members of the Maitland electorate - more than can be said for his Australian Labor Party opponent. The decision to rebuild Maitland Correctional Centre is a long way off. The Opposition is telling everyone in Maitland that it knows what the Government is going to do even before any preliminary discussions have taken place on the subject.
Honourable members know that the Australian Labor Party seems to have a psychic ability when it comes to dealing with each of the factions and predicting what the ALP rank and file might want in Cabramatta. But so far as being able to represent the interests of the Maitland community it is far from the mark. On the same day that Mr Tony Keating said that the Government would close the Maitland Correctional Centre, the department approved the expenditure of $540,000 to improve the facilities at the centre.
Some Australian Labor Party candidates have been liars, but dumb liars is an appropriate description that could be used in this case. Following an inspection of the centre last month the Commissioner of Corrective Services recommended significant works to upgrade and improve the facilities for the staff, the inmates and visitors to the centre. I have urged the commissioner to ensure that these works are completed as soon as possible. They are part of a larger program of maintenance work planned for the centre for some time. The Government recognises the age of the Maitland centre, and the time has come to improve the environment in which the staff work and the inmates live.
The work will begin in the next week or so and will be completed by the middle of next year. It will involve employing local tradesmen and ensuring that the local people continue to benefit from having the centre in Maitland. The improvements will include the expansion of the existing visitors' facilities; relocation of inmates' showers closer to the cell blocks, better use of the present inmate classrooms and the library; upgrading of staff facilities inside the correctional centre, including the provisions for female staff; and relocating the inmate reception and screening area to greatly improve security during transfers. With all the works to be carried out by the department at Maitland the Government must have regard to protecting the heritage of this important institution.
That is why approval for the remedial work at Maitland takes a few weeks longer to approve and why the local Labor candidate got it wrong. He probably heard that the department was inspecting certain areas of the Maitland centre, and when nothing happened for a couple of weeks he got together with some of his Sussex Street mates and decided that the department must be going to close the gaol. That was a pretty weak conclusion, considering everything I have said during the past year. The Labor Party candidate may have thought it was a fine piece of mischief to try to stir up those in Maitland, but I assure him that it unnecessarily worried a large number of prison officers, support staff, administration staff and residents. In fact, a number of the staff knew that the Labor candidate was so wrong that his credibility with them is now zero - and to some extent that is even higher than it should be.