NT prison work camp proposed for rural university research station near Katherine

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The NT government says a proposed new prison work camp near Katherine would help alleviate pressure from the territory's overloaded prisons in Darwin and Alice Springs. The government is also flagging a record $495 million spend on the corrections system in its upcoming budget. The NT's prison workforce remains stretched to deal with an influx of prisoners.

Transcript

00:00A rural research farm the NT government's hoping could soon call home to some of the

00:07territory's prison population.

00:09We're in a proposal now with the CDU about what that will look like to be able to house

00:14the low and open restricted prisoners there.

00:16Around 20 kilometres north of Catherine in the Top End.

00:20If it goes ahead the work camp will offer prisoners a chance to rehabilitate on the

00:25land.

00:26They have cows, they have agriculture and some of those boot camp, some of those work

00:30camp prisoners will be able to go into the sentence to a skill to learn some of the skills

00:34that everyday Territorians have to make a better life.

00:37Prisons across the Territory are currently pushed to capacity with numbers expected to rise even

00:43higher in the months ahead thanks to the CLP's new bail laws.

00:48Currently today we have 2822 across the system.

00:53There's no question that that number places strain on the organisation right across all

00:57of our centres.

00:59Corrections say they've recruited 157 prison officers in the past 12 months but 59 have

01:06left, 30 of whom were working in Alice Springs.

01:10But officials are pledging the proposed work camp won't stretch that even further.

01:15We are continuing to recruit experienced correctional officers and trainee correctional officers.

01:19That will also alleviate some of the problems up here because we'll be able to spread the

01:24prison population not only in Darwin and in Holtz and Alice Springs but into Catherine.

01:29Charles Darwin University's Vice-Chancellor confirmed the university had been approached

01:34about the possibility but didn't say if it will go ahead.

01:38The United Workers Union says prison officers would welcome a Catherine work camp however remain

01:43in doubt for how the work camp would be staffed.

01:46Despite the concerns, the government says there will be money in next week's budget to fund

01:51it.

01:52Part of a record half a billion dollars spend on the territory's prisons to be rolled out.

01:57Part of a record half a billion dollars a day and performances, but reasonably

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