I held a productive meeting this morning with the Freedom Centre regarding the situation at Ellendale.
All parties are agreed that the safety of the community is paramount. The Government’s view remains that the current situation is untenable and that relocation of the Freedom Centre residents is in their best interests and that of the broader Ellendale community.
We will continue to work with the Freedom Centre and the Prisoners Legal Service to relocate the men currently at the centre as quickly as possible.
While the Government acknowledges that organisations such as the Freedom Centre can play an important role in accommodating people on release from prison, it is important that such facilities have appropriate governance structures and accountability measures in place for the protection of residents and the broader community, and the Government will continue to consider how best to improve the standards and transparency under which such premises operate to increase community confidence in them.
There are no plans to allocate any funding for the future operations of the Freedom Centre. The priority at this stage is to work with the Freedom Centre and the Prisoner’s Legal Service on the relocation of the residents and the standards, procedures, protocols, transparency and accountability measures.
We condemn in the strongest terms any vigilante action that may jeopardise the safety of the Freedom Centre residents and the broader Ellendale community