The Hodgman Liberal Government makes no apologies for locking criminals up and keeping them off the streets.
That is why we have increased staffing levels at the Tasmania Prison Service by 47.3 FTE since coming to Government, recruited 37 new Correctional Officers since May last year, and we are recruiting and training 30 more Correctional Officers as we speak.
We have already made offers to an additional 19 new Correctional Officer recruits in the last fortnight and we are continuing to recruit for more officers through the rest of this year.
We have also funded 81 new prison beds in recent budgets, and increased recurrent funding for the Prison Service by $11 million per annum, as well as $7.5 million for various capital projects.
It is blatantly false of the union to suggest we are not employing more staff given the significant additional numbers of staff that have been added and continue to be added by the Hodgman Liberal Government.
Any assault against our hard-working frontline workers is unacceptable, which is why we introduced legislation that would have sent a stronger deterrent message and resulted in mandatory penalties for these offenders. This was shamefully blocked by Labor, therefore giving criminals the green light to offend.
I am advised that the TPS, like a number of other workplaces around the state, is currently experiencing larger than normal sick leave volumes which was a major contributor to Risdon Prison being in lockdown yesterday.
While this is not ideal, prison is not a holiday, and the TPS need to make decisions that ensure the operations of the prison runs as smoothly and safely as possible for all concerned.
When Labor and the unions call for ‘immediate action’ to be taken, what exactly do they want? As already outlined since coming to Government, we have funded more beds, more staff, and provided more overall funding for the TPS.
We do not accept the suggestion by Tom Lynch and Rebecca White’s Labor Party that prisoners should be let out onto the streets to reduce prison numbers. The community has fundamentally rejected the soft on crime policies of the Labor Party which favour criminals over victims.