Nathan Rees, premier of New South Wales, is a man who looks constantly on the verge of tears. He runs his party more like the current coalition than the labor federal govt – with more bitching and bickering than any real policy making. Perhaps the constant state of mutiny in your backbenchers is telling you something, Nathan? The plots and constant treachery underfoot amongst the NSW labor kingpins is somewhat reminiscent of Tudor England. One real piece of action Rees has instigated, however, is his plans to relinquish government control over the state’s jails (specifically Parklea and Cessnock, to begin with) and place them into the hands of the highest-bidding-corporation – who are in general a greedy, soulless and hard minded bunch of money-suckers. The sale would be a big one, working towards minimizing the all-absorbing black hole the state treasury has become.
Rees knows he won’t get too much opposition. Criminals aren’t people, after all, or at least in the eyes of good, law-abiding citizens. The move has solidified Rees’s image as the same type of middle class mummy’s boy as the majority of voters. No one who thinks for themselves can honestly think that everyone who has been to jail is Evil and out to get your children. Because the law is flawed. Necessary, but flawed. There are a lot of laws out there that are either outdated, only benefit certain demographics, or don’t take personal circumstance into consideration. The Chaser proved that when they waltzed into a hotel with a pony and informed the shocked receptionist that according to Australian law, the hotel had to stable and feed their four-legged friend for free. And the fact is, middle class white collar workers like politicians (it’s called white collar for a reason,) cannot possibly understand the kind of life that leads to breaking the law (and were not just talking about murder and rape here, which are obviously much greater crimes than say insurance fraud and burglary.) being necessary.
A man more directly responsible for the move than Rees is Minister for Corrective Services NSW, John Robertson, who protesters have labelled as “Judas,” and for good reason. He used to be the head of Unions NSW, and is now at the head of a move which is likely to put many prison officers out of work. He was an avid fighter of the government’s plans to privatise electricity services in 2001, stating at the time that it was “only the beginning.” Apparently so. Robertson was personally responsible for the overturning of a government ban forbidding the privatisation of jails. He has also already shifted 110 prisoners from Parklea and Cessnock, as well as a number of prison officers, to prisons that are not planning to be privatised. In a secretive, almost criminal-esque manoeuvre, the transferees were transported in the dead of night, without the knowledge of other workers at the prison.
But let’s look at privatisation, of anything. Basically, this is taking a business out of the control of the government, who answer to the people, and putting it into the control of a corporation, who answer to shareholders. The government has a responsibility to not screw things up too badly, or they won’t be re-elected. In this case, the government has a responsibility to ensure prisoners, and prison employees like guards, are being treated fairly. A corporation answers to no such responsibility. They are out to Make Money. That is the creed of any business. It has to be. That is the point of a business. And that’s fine, when we’re talking about a retail outlet or a fast food joint, or something in which making money depends on treating the customers, the people who are in your care, with good service. But prisoners aren’t paying to be in jails. A corporation would gain nothing from treating them with fairness. They can treat them however they dam well please.
But, there are laws in place! You may say. They can’t get away with anything! Maybe, in theory, they can’t. But by giving control of a jail to a corporation, the government is also signing away its right to closely examine the inner workings of the jails – the paperwork which details exactly what is going on inside. And besides, do you really think they’d bother keeping an eye in? By attempting to sell the jails, the government has provided us with a pretty clear sign they are well and truly washing their hands of any responsibility – do you think they’re going to continue to keep a close watch on the jails once they don’t have to? They have bigger things to worry about. “Commercialisation compromises accountability and justifies restricted access to critical information about prison operations and agreements with government.” Said Jnana Gumbert, president of the Australian Lawyers Alliance NSW, to the Lithgow Mercury.
The privatisation has met vehement opposition from the Union, as well as the prison workers affected. They have managed to stop the Government’s plans to privatise Cessnock jail, at least for the moment, and are working to halt the plans still in motion to privatise Parklea. 500 people walked in protest from Hyde Park to Macquarie Street in April, in front of State Parliament. Hopefully they will succeed in their efforts, and the government will stop all plans to privatise NSW jails.
No comments:
Post a Comment