Justice reinvestment or more prisons

Greens Urge Minister to Make Good on Justice Reinvestment

26th August 2013

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam and Greens WA spokesperson on Aboriginal issues, Robin Chapple MLC, have today lamented the slide back into the old tough-on-crime rhetoric by Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis.

Senator Ludlam said “After a promising start, with statements heralding a fresh approach to the problem of WA’s increasing prison population, we now find the Minister claiming bragging rights over how much the Barnett/Grylls government has spent on prison capital works.

“In 2010 we launched the Greens’ justice reinvestment initiative as an urgent measure to reduce crime and increase community safety, and it was universally recognized as a proven strategy which would redirect funding to where it would be better utilised.  Yet here we are in 2013 with very little having being outlaid on justice reinvestment, and a Minister boasting about the $655million spent on prisons”, said Senator Ludlam.

Mr Chapple continued, “We know that there has to be a better way – not this incessant treadmill of finger-pointing and blame-shifting – where the inevitable outcome is our state’s scandalous reputation for shockingly high rates of incarceration among aboriginal people.

“What we have heard from the Minister today is all about ‘bolstering security features’ and ‘updating custodial rules’ – what the community wants to hear is how we can be smarter with the way we spend this money, by investing in stronger communities, so that much of the crime never happens in the first place.

“In my Mining and Pastoral Region electorate, I have seen ample evidence of the success of this approach in my long involvement with aboriginal communities around WA.  The Yiriman Project, in Fitzroy Crossing, has achieved outstanding success in diverting at-risk youngsters away from the justice system.   And the employment of Martu people as desert rangers also demonstrates the effectiveness of alternative strategies.

“The ‘tough on crime’ approach of the major parties is not working. It is not reducing crime rates, it is not making our communities safer, and it is leading to higher rates of imprisonment, at a huge cost to the taxpayer”, concluded Mr Chapple.

Greens Justice Reinvestment Plan - http://penny-wright.greensmps.org.au/campaigns/justice-reinvestment

Go to top