If you can’t run it, close it, no matter the cost

 “The closure of Long Bay Hospital Area 2, which houses about 300 inmates, is clearly a reprisal against prison staff for the leaks to the media concerning the riot on 27 November that resulted in three shots being fired from the prison’s towers.

“Prison officers attending today’s 8am parade were told that LBH2 would close in January/February 2010. They were also informed that investigators from the Department of Corrective Services would be at the hospital area today to gather information on the recent leaks.

“Commissioner Ron Woodham’s obsession with secrecy is so great that he is prepared to close key parts of the prison at a time when the State’s gaols are appallingly overcrowded. The sole purpose seems to be to punish prisoners and prison officers alike for leaking news to the public about the impacts of his Way Forward policies.

“Questions about the future employment of staff went unanswered this morning.

“Delivering this news a fortnight before Christmas will do nothing for officer morale.

“Under-staffing, job insecurity, and demands that officers work excessive overtime only serve to discourage people from seeking work with the Department.

“Yet intense staff shortages have resulted in prolonged lockdowns that are creating tensions within the State’s gaols not seen since the 1970s. Reliance on a massive expansion of Corrective Services’ armoury with the acquisition of new gas masks, helmets, batons and massive quantities of bullets is simply a recipe for a return to the past when prisoners rioted and Bathurst Gaol burned.

“LBH2 is managed under the Commissioner’s much vaunted Way Forward. So far as staff and inmates are concerned it’s the Way Backward to the 1970s,” said Ms Hale.

Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124