Murder and romance get prisoners through COVID boredom
With COVID lockdowns banning visitors — and stopping illegal drugs entering cells — prisoners turned to murder and romance to escape the boredom of 2020.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A book about a man who is wrongly accused of murder was one of the most in-demand books among prisoners this year.
With the recent COVID lockdown banning visitors — and stopping illegal drugs entering cells — along with the suspension of many activities, it appears bored prisoners immersed themselves in books to escape boredom.
Corrective Services NSW figures reveal a 25 per cent spike in library borrowings this year, despite racier and true crime titles being banned.
The most in-demand book for men was A Storm of Swords, the third in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, which inspired the small screen hit Game of Thrones. It was followed by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by late Swedish author Stieg Larsson with Lee Child’s debut novel Killing Floor coming in at third place.
Child’s novel is based around a character called Jack Reacher, a tough ex-military cop who is blamed for a murder soon after arriving in town.
The top read in the women’s prisons was The Gunslinger, a fantasy novel by Stephen King, followed by The Happiest Refugee, a memoir charting the journey of comedian Anh Do.
In third place was The Guardians, a legal thriller by John Grisham. Other popular titles among female inmates were romance novels by Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele, Normal People, by Irish author Sally Rooney and The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks.
Corrective Services NSW library services manager Rebecca Bollen Manalac said there were 42,800 books borrowed this year, up from 34,300 last year.
“Just like in the community, it’s been a challenging year for the inmates, and books have been helping them escape from the world, even if for a few hours,” Manalac said. “Overall men prefer fantasy and thrillers and the women are more likely to pick up a romance book — Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele are popular authors with female inmates.” Manalac said books were an important part of prisoner rehabilitation, keeping inmates engaged and helping improve their literacy skills.
However, not all titles were made available, with Assistant Commissioner Governance and Continuous Improvement Carlo Scasserra confirming the 140,000 available titles inmates could choose from was a carefully “vetted” list. Among the banned books were true crime titles and those that could lead to security or safety issues, Scasserra said.
PRISON PANIC
The arrival of COVID not only sent ordinary civilians into a panic — prisoners were also worried.
Buy-up lists for the year show a surge in inmate orders for hygiene products, as well as vitamins.
Corrective Services NSW Industries Group Director Steve Thorpe said there was a 33 per cent increase in soap, shower gel and body wash being purchased from the prison grocery system.
More than 8000 hygienic products were bought in September alone, compared with around 6000 during the same time last year, Thorpe said.
Catch up on episodes from the On Guard podcast series below:
While inmates are given hand soap and sanitiser, they can also purchase extra items with wages they earn from prison jobs or from money from families and friends. Prisoners were given an increased limit to spend on buy-ups this year, rising from $100 to $150, to allow for the extra hygiene purchases, rising from $100 to $150.
Department figures show inmates spent almost $31 million on food and non-grocery buy-ups this year, with the revenue covering the cost of operating the scheme.
The top grocery purchases in NSW jails this year were diet orange drink powder, tinned tuna in oil, Singapore instant noodles, hot and spicy instant noodles and Pepsi soft drink. The top non-grocery purchases were plastic storage tubs, antibacterial mouthwash, electric kettles, low-cut socks and more than 2000 jars of multivitamins.
POLLIE PARTIES
It may not have been 1999, but pollies partied liked it was.
The latest gift register where NSW MPs must log all their freebies for the past financial year showed lots of fun was had in the first eight months of 2019-20, until it all ground to a halt with COVID.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian accepted more than 40 tickets to various events, including three from the Lyric Theatre to see Muriel’s Wedding, five from Venues NSW to see Elton John along with tickets to the NRL and AFL grand finals.
Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres listed an impressive tally of tickets to NRL, AFL, rugby, racing, women’s cricket and tennis events along with invites to the Brownlow Medal Night, the NRL Grand Final VIP Dinner and Everest Gala Dinner.
Ayres also attended both the Melbourne Cup and Golden Eagle while declaring tickets to Chicago the musical, U2, Elton John and David Campbell concerts, and the ARIA Chairman’s Cocktail Events and Awards.
Playing second fiddle to Ayres as the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Major Events clearly doesn’t hurt with Geoff Provest handed freebies to the V8 Supercars, U2 concert and Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by Destination NSW along with tickets to tickets to Splendour in the Grass.
Not to be outdone, Skills and Tertiary Education Minister Geoffrey Lee listed freebies to 14 “hospitality’ events, including the State of Origin and NRL and AFL grand finals.
Liberal MP Alister Henskens appears to be angling for the sports portfolio after listing freebies to multiple basketball games, cricket Tests and the races.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello also popped in to see Elton, courtesy of tickets from the International Convention Centre, which also gave tickets to a “music” event to Planning Minister Rob Stokes.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard declared tickets to the footy, theatre and races; Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to the Australian Open Tennis, and Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean to the NRL and AFL grand finals.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance also received a State of Origin ticket from Tabcorp and U2 tickets from Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, while Attorney-General Mark Speakman declared tickets to Don Giovanni.
It’s not just venues that offer tickets to pollies, State opposition rural and regional jobs spokeswoman Yasmin Catley accepted four tickets from Tabcorp valued at $2000 to the Million Dollar Chase greyhound event and the Everest.
Nationals leader John Barilaro accepted two State of Origin tickets from Huawei along with Racing NSW tickets. Government Whip Adam Crouch accepted a $469 one-hour joy flight from Warnervale Air.
FREEBIE TRAIN
A potential investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) did not stop the freebies flowing to sidelined Liberal MP John Sidoti. The latest disclosure reveals the former sports minister received tickets to an NRL match, a Western Sydney Wanderers soccer match, the Pro AM NSW Open and the Australian Open Golf Tournament.
The tickets were received after Sidoti stepped down from his ministerial duties in September last year pending the corruption watchdog taking a look at his property dealings. No news yet of the outcome
Got some Sauce? Contact linda.silmalis@news.com.au
More Coverage
Minister’s ‘deceptive’ ad referred to Electoral Commission
The former mayor of a major regional city has made a formal complaint to the election watchdog after he was featured in an Albanese government minister’s election flyer.
‘I don’t want anybody to go through what we did’: Families honour Westfield victims
One year after six lives were taken in the Bondi Junction Westfield attack, families and dignitaries led by NSW Premier Chris Minns laid floral tributes in a silent and tearful memorial ceremony.