House Chair,
The ACDP is aware that this department is a receiver department and so, as crime increases and as the call from society increases for more people to be locked away, this department has to receive more prisoners, both awaiting-trial and convicted. This leads to the perennial problem of overcrowding, which negatively impacts rehabilitation and places the security of inmates and officials at risk.
One of the ways of dealing with this is section 49G of the Correctional Services Act. It’s concerning when so few section 49G applications are approved by the Judiciary and I do think further engagement needs to be taken in that regard, or the Act needs to be amended.
Another way of dealing with overcrowding relates to foreign nationals who have been sentenced They should serve their sentences in their home countries and that is a process which we understand the Deputy Minister is engaging with with Home Affairs.
The third aspect is to reduce recidivism by effective rehabilitation, and thank you, Deputy Minister, for pointing that out, because we in the ACDP strongly believe in rehabilitation and restorative justice. Those criminals who are not a danger to society should have the concept of restorative justice applied to them. This is very important in our view.
The ACDP is also very concerned about the high levels of corruption and of contraband in the prison services. And so, we welcome and we commend the Minister for the unannounced visits. We also wish to commend the Commissioner for the night visits that he’s conducted – surprise visits that have unearthed a lot of evil things that are happening — a lot of illegality. I’d often a thought when I served on the Committee what it would be like for us as Members of Parliament to visit a prison at night and to see what goes on there – unannounced. I think that is also a very important aspect that we need to look into.
It is also important for us to bear in mind that we need to balance society’s rightful cry for justice and for punishment with what Hebrews 13 says:
“Remember those in prison as if you were there yourself.”
So, there should be an element of compassion as well to ensure that those that are imprisoned, that serve sentences, come out rehabilitated, and then are good role models in society. The ACDP is concerned about those parolees that recommit offences. So, obviously, there is a challenge in that regard.
With these challenges in mind, and given the progress in the department, the ACDP will support this budget.
I thank you.
