Dempsey’s prison cutbacks have put staff directly at risk

Media Release.

Shadow Corrective Services Minister Bill Byrne says the safety of prison officers appears to be an early casualty of the Newman Government’s mass sackings and savage cuts to frontline services.

Mr Byrne said reductions in tailoring and metal workshops for prisoners had been blamed for an attack on a correctional officer at the Townsville Correctional Centre.

“In August, when the LNP government announced it was reducing workshops at five prisons across Queensland I raised concerns that the increase in idle time for prisoners along with overcrowding issues could increase the risk of violent behaviour against staff and other prisoners,” Mr Byrne said.

“The prison officers’ union says the reality of this increased risk of violence has now hit home with a Townsville Correctional Officer ending up in hospital yesterday after being attacked by a prisoner.

“The LNP government’s continued cuts to Corrective Services staff, its scrapping of workshops and its refusal to deal with overcrowding issues now make it responsible for any increased violence in Queensland prisons.

“Corrective Service Minister Jack Dempsey needs to explain the false economy of his prison cutbacks and the long-term impacts these cutbacks will have on the Queensland community,” he said.

Mr Byrne said prisoner workshops had been cut back at Lotus Glen, Townsville, Capricornia, Maryborough and Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centres.

“This has increased the idle time within the prison setting, on top of the LNP’s closure of the dairy facilities at Capricornia and Toowoomba,” he said.

“The cutbacks affect training and employment programs designed to prevent reoffending once prisoners are released.

“Cuts of this kind have the potential to cost the community more in the long-term with increased recidivism rates for serious offences once prisoners are released.”