Cost of new prison blows out to $495 million

Jane Bardon and Jano Gibson, On Friday 7 October 2011, 12:18

Northern Territory Treasurer Delia Lawrie says the plan to spend nearly half-a-billion dollars on a prison near Palmerston is a "very good result".
The Territory government has announced it has closed a financial deal with a consortium including Sitzler and the Commonwealth Bank to build the new jail by mid-2014.
The new prison plan was announced as a $300 million project in 2007.
The government says it will now cost $495 million dollars and have room for up to 1,000 prisoners.
Ms Lawrie says more facilities will be built than was originally planned.
"It provides for an increase in the number of beds in the prison, a whole new 48-bed supported accommodation facility that was not in the original costing, an increased site to provide better education and training options," she said.
"(There will be) improvements to the mental health facility." The Territory Opposition concedes it may not be able to stop the new prison going ahead even if it wins power at next year's election.
The Country Liberals' Willem Westra Van Holthe says building a new jail is not good policy but there is little the Opposition can do about it.
"Now that the contract has been signed with the consortium, I believe we would be bound to follow it," he said.
"But we would have to make sure the important things are in place when we are in government.
"That is, the rehabilitation and education of prisoners, and ways and means of curbing recidivism rates in the Northern Territory." He says Territorians will be paying off the new prison for decades to come.
"This is going to be paid back by Territorians over the next 30 years, and every man woman and child in the Northern Territory is going to be lumped with $2400 worth of debt as a result of it," he said.
The Northern Territory Prison Guards Association says the construction of the new jail can't come soon enough.
Spokesman Phil Tilbrook says the existing Berrimah prison is archaic and unsafe for guards and prisoners.
"We have prisoners housed in accommodation that has third world conditions," he said.
"We've still got prison officers working in areas that no other government worker would be asked to work in.
"These conditions are atrocious." NT Criminal Lawyers Association president John Lawrence says the new prison will not make the streets of Darwin safer.
"They are no safer now, by virtue of jailing so many people, than they were 20 years ago," he said.
"Arguably, they are less safe.
"This continual policy of just jailing everybody, it is really not the way to go."

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Russell 25 minutes ago Report Abuse
$495 million ?? That's $495,000 per prisoner housed. You could buy them a house on the outskirts of Sydney for each of them cheaper than that. Why not give them $250,000 each and let them go free. If they commit a crime again ... kill 'em. Be cheaper in the long run.
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Thursday, 6 October 2011