John Welch, Secretary of the WA Prison Officers Union
Respect the Risk has secured an exciting win in the campaign to keep WA’s prisons in public hands this month!
Up until now, the WA government had been considering a plan to privatise Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison in Kalgoorlie.
Respect the Risk has campaigned to make people aware of the risks associated with the privatisation of prisons from the outset. And in December we launched a humourous Christmas Card email action with a serious message directed towards WA Premier Colin Barnett.
Last week, Premier Barnett sent us a letter – confirming that operational staffing arrangements at Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison will NOT be privatised.
Read the latest news reports here:
This win is owed to the thousands of people who have joined our campaign to take action and support WA prison officers. Together we have forced the Premier to have a change of mind about the privatisation of Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison.
In a letter to the WA Prison Officers Union this week, the Premier states:
“The Liberal-National Government has examined then option of private sector participation in relation to the delivery of operational services at this new facility, and the current position is that the Department of Corrective Services will deliver all operational services at the new prison.”
This is a win for common sense. The evidence from overseas suggests that private companies running prisons will inevitably lead to fewer staff, more dangerous prisons, less focus on rehabilitation – and poorer justice outcomes for the entire community.
The importance of this change of heart by the Premier and the Minister for Corrective Services cannot be underestimated. The Premier’s intervention represents critical recognition of the important role of prison officers.
This change of mind offers hope for the retention of other important public assets – such as hospitals – to also remain in public hands.
Our Respect the Risk campaign can now move forward with confidence, that plans to privatise prisons in other locations can be challenged and overturned, and that the work of prison officers can be properly recognised.
Our prisons should always be held in public hands. They are not there to make other people wealthy through privatisation; they are the responsibility of the state.
All the best for 2011,
John Welch
WA Prison Officers’ Union
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