New 1000-bed jail to be built to ease prison overcrowding, increase access to drug rehabilitation

The State Government says it will create hundreds of jobs building and operating a new 1000-bed mens’ prison, as it moves to address overcrowding and improve rehabilitation.

A NEW 1000-bed mega jail will be built in southeast Queensland to address the state’s prison capacity crisis.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the State Budget, to be handed down by Treasurer Jackie Trad tomorrow, will include $620 million for the new jail, to be built alongside the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre at Gatton.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the new mens’ jail would be built by 2022/2023 in one of the most significant budgets for the portfolio. The expansion is part of a mooted $1.2 billion jail plan investigated by Building Queensland to expand both the Gatton centre as well as Arthur Gorrie at Wacol.

“This one project alone will create jobs, 400 during construction and 500 permanent jobs,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the new jail will create hundreds of jobs. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Corrections Minister Mark Ryan said the new jail would be a “modern, evidence-based prison which will support safer communities through enhanced mental health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation services with a focus on addressing the ice epidemic and its link to violent and property crime.”

“It also means safer, less crowded, more effective prisons statewide which will help reduce recidivism and keep our communities safer,” he said.

The Crime and Corruption Commission Taskforce Flaxton report into jail corruption last year found there had been increased assaults in prisons due to overcrowding.

Unions have been campaigning for changes to ease overcrowding and improve safety for officers amid a series of savage bashings.

The Budget also includes $111 million over four years to bring privately run prisons back into public hands to help address safety fears.

The new prison will be built alongside the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre at Gatton. Photo: Geoff Egan

The Queensland Productivity Commission’s draft report into imprisonment and recidivism found the prison population had increased by 44 per cent between 2012 and 2018 with each prisoner costing about $107,000 a year on average to keep inside.

“At the current rate of growth, Queensland will require an additional 4600 to 5800 prison cells by 2025 — this will require around $5.2 billion to $6.5 billion in infrastructure costs alone,” its draft report stated.

The new jail is the latest in a long line of funding commitments aimed at reducing overcrowding.

In 2017 the state rolled out 1000 bunk beds across Queensland’s jails and spent $200 million to expand the Capricornia Correctional Centre by 264 cells.

An extra $41 million was added last year to pay for another 84 cells.

The announcement of a new jail comes as the Premier and Treasurer yesterday continued their pre-Budget sell, spruiking an increased health budget and a new freight link to the Townsville Port as well as $80 million in discounts to intended to encourage miners to the North West Minerals Province.