CLAIMS that WA’s prison population is soaring under state government inefficiency have been rejected with Bunbury Regional Prison praised as well equipped.
Minister for Corrective Services Joe Francis said Bunbury Prison was currently holding 294 prisoners in a facility designed to hold 347.
“Currently more than 1000 general-purpose beds are unoccupied across the entire prison estate,” he said.
“This enables the department to maximise the efficiency of prison operations while managing daily fluctuations in prisoner numbers.”
Shadow Minister for Corrective Services Paul Papalia accused the Barnett government of blowing the corrective services budget by as much as $80million per year for the last seven years.
“It’s a direct result of the massive surge in prisoner numbers,” Mr Papalia said.
But Mr Francis fired back and said as part of a $655 million capital investment program, the department planned to deliver more over the next 12 months to meet population projections.
“This includes a 387-bed expansion at Acacia Prison, improvements and additional beds at Bandyup Women’s Prison and the new 350-bed Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison which is under construction,” he said.
WA Prisoners Officers Union secretary John Welch said prison overcrowding put pressure on prison staff and left them open to assault.
“Overcrowding in prisons is more dangerous for guards, it creates pressures, tensions and puts stress on the functions of their jobs,” he said.
“The state government has two approaches to take to fix the issue and that is to build new facilities that are necessary or change the approach to law and order in the courts.”
“We need to think about whether the right people are going to jail.
“Something’s got to give and the system is quite unreasonable.”
Mr Welch said it was not unusual for assaults on staff as there were a significant amount of pressures on guards at the best of times.
“There are risks that officers face every day but any day that an officer is under assault is a bad thing,” he said.
Mr Francis praised prison staff and said they were trained and equipped to deal with these situations.
“Prison officers, including those at Bunbury Regional Prison, are prepared and supported for the challenges they may face in their workplace,” he said.
“Prison staff undertake robust training in managing difficult people and defusing spontaneous and volatile situations.”