C
Contrarian
I say 2 years maximum for a guy who tries to walk the talk.
WA prisons minister takes himself to jail
AAP, The West Australian
July 10, 2013, 9:42 am
Prisons Minister Joe Francis says he has so little confidence in his own department that he turned up unannounced to inspect a jail for himself.
Mr Francis, a former naval officer, became Corrective Services Minister following the State election in March, and has been dealing with myriad problems since.
An investigation by The West Australian has detailed mounting concerns about problems within the department.
More than 100 teenage prisoners still languish in the adult Hakea prison following a riot that all but destroyed the state's only juvenile prison in January.
And a series of reports alleging a culture of bullying, inappropriate behaviour and connections between criminals and prison officers have also surfaced.
On Wednesday, Mr Francis revealed the Department of Corrective Services failed to inform him for more than a week that juveniles had damaged cells at Hakea Prison.
So on Saturday, he used little known powers under the state's Prisons Act to demand access to the facility to inspect the damage for himself.
Armed with a copy of the act, Mr Francis said he was asked to identify himself via his driver's licence before being let in.
"If I find out about something 10 days late that I should have been told about when it happened, expect me to be furious," Mr Francis told Fairfax radio.
"As I had little faith in the accuracy or timeliness of the information I had been given, I turned up unannounced and inspected the cells, and talked to the juveniles."
Mr Francis said he was determined to fix the culture of the department.
"There are too many people there who think they are living in the 1850 Swan River colony or have watched too many re-runs of Prisoner - they need to move on with their attitude," he said.
"There are some rotten eggs in there, and if they think the current way they have been going about business is appropriate they need to find another job today."
WA prisons minister takes himself to jail
AAP, The West Australian
July 10, 2013, 9:42 am
Prisons Minister Joe Francis says he has so little confidence in his own department that he turned up unannounced to inspect a jail for himself.
Mr Francis, a former naval officer, became Corrective Services Minister following the State election in March, and has been dealing with myriad problems since.
An investigation by The West Australian has detailed mounting concerns about problems within the department.
More than 100 teenage prisoners still languish in the adult Hakea prison following a riot that all but destroyed the state's only juvenile prison in January.
And a series of reports alleging a culture of bullying, inappropriate behaviour and connections between criminals and prison officers have also surfaced.
On Wednesday, Mr Francis revealed the Department of Corrective Services failed to inform him for more than a week that juveniles had damaged cells at Hakea Prison.
So on Saturday, he used little known powers under the state's Prisons Act to demand access to the facility to inspect the damage for himself.
Armed with a copy of the act, Mr Francis said he was asked to identify himself via his driver's licence before being let in.
"If I find out about something 10 days late that I should have been told about when it happened, expect me to be furious," Mr Francis told Fairfax radio.
"As I had little faith in the accuracy or timeliness of the information I had been given, I turned up unannounced and inspected the cells, and talked to the juveniles."
Mr Francis said he was determined to fix the culture of the department.
"There are too many people there who think they are living in the 1850 Swan River colony or have watched too many re-runs of Prisoner - they need to move on with their attitude," he said.
"There are some rotten eggs in there, and if they think the current way they have been going about business is appropriate they need to find another job today."
