Capricornia Correctional Centre riots: Final cost of riots damage revealed in Queensland Parliament

After almost a year of requesting answers, the final cost of the damage to the Capricornia Correctional Centre from the 2021 riots has been revealed. Find out the eye-watering figure here.

For the first time since a mass prisoner riot almost a year ago, the final cost of the damage to facilities at Capricornia Correctional Centre north of Rockhampton has been revealed.

It was heard in Queensland Parliament on August 3 that the damage from the 16-hour riots at the prison was about $1.1 million.

Shadow Minister for Police and Corrective Service Dale Last queried Queensland Corrective Services Commissioner Paul Stewart about the cost in Parliament sittings for Estimates: Legal Affairs and Safety Committee – Police and Corrective Services; Fire and Emergency Services.

Mr Last asked if restitution would be sought from the prisoners who allegedly participated in the riots and it was responded that this was a matter for the courts.

“My understanding is that they have charged approximately 64 individuals in relation to the riot at Capricornia and that they will go through a process of seeking restitution in relation to the damage.”

Of the 64 prisoners charged, 58 faced Rockhampton Magistrates Court in a two-week period in July and most cases had briefs of evidence orders and were adjourned to dates in August and September.

The prisoners, aged between 19 and 42, were each charged with one count of riot or mutiny – unlawfully damages/destroys/attempts to damage or destroy property.

The maximum penalty for the charge is 14 years imprisonment.

Police vehicles at the perimeter of the Capricornia Correctional Centre during the riots and protests.

The riots allegedly broke out about 9am when maximum-security inmates were told to return to their cells as the staff were having a union meeting.

The prisoners didn’t want to go back in and one allegedly threw a crate at a correctional officer and unrest quickly fired up as the group allegedly broke into other secure units, gained access to the garden shed and more prisoners joined from the residential units.

The prisoners allegedly had power tools from the shed and were allegedly using petrol to make molotov cocktails, as well as injecting, ingesting and inhaling it.

At one stage, they allegedly used a vending machine to ram a fence.

Fires were lit, officer stations destroyed, pipes pulled out, cameras smashed, soft drinks thrown as missiles, property was defaced with graffiti and more in a trail of destruction.

As a result of the damage, about 180 secure cells and 150 residential cells couldn’t be used.

The units were repaired by QBuild and were back up and running six weeks later.

This publication has asked Queensland Corrective Services on multiple occasions in the past 10 months for a monetary figure for the damage caused but a figure could never be provided.

Commissioner Stewart in Parliament acknowledged the “excellent work” the custodial officers did in the Capricornia Correctional Centre riots and the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre riots in September “in order to bring the centres back to where they should be from a peace and good order perspective”.

The damage from the riot at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre (near Brisbane) was estimated to cost $985,000.

“Capricornia in particular had a number of newer people who had just been trained, and they stood shoulder to shoulder with the more experienced people in order to do that,” Mr Stewart said.

Just a few months before the riots broke out, an internal review was launched in July by Evexia at the Rockhampton prison into the workplace culture.

Mr Last asked what the cost of the review was, and it was responded that it was $160,353.

“That was a really important review to do within Capricornia,” Commissioner Stewart said.

“On the culture within that centre, there had been a number of matters that had occurred over previous times in relation to Operation Linseed.

“The culture in the centre was at a low ebb.

“We placed a new general manager in the centre. We did the cultural review.

“It was done over a period and a lot of people came forward and participated in that.

“It did identify some issues fundamentally around bullying and things that were potentially occurring.

“Since then, with the recommendations, we are in the process of implementing those recommendations.”

In mid-2021 this publication published a number of articles with former employees who made claims about being bullied, alleged assaults, hazing in training, unrest, under the table deals with prisoners and more explosive claims.

Mr Last asked if the full findings of the independent report would be made public, and ultimately the answer was ‘no’.

At the time of the review finalisation, Queensland Corrective Services told media 102 correctional officers participated and there were “positives” and “areas of concerns which the prison must absolutely address”.

“The reviews contain a lot of private and personal information and potential to identify people. We have released a public summary in relation to the reviews.

“That has been released in relation to the summary of the findings and the recommendation.

“But with the full details – there is a risk that people could be identified so we could not release the full report.”

Townsville Correctional Centre had an internal independent review in 2019, in which 79 officers participated, and it cost $80,990.