Metropolitan Remand Centre riot damage bill hits $100m
TAXPAYERS have had to fork out more than $100 million repairing and rebuilding a maximum-security jail destroyed by rioting criminals, the Herald Sun can reveal.
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TAXPAYERS have had to fork out more than $100 million repairing and rebuilding a maximum-security jail destroyed by rioting criminals, the Herald Sun can reveal.
The ballooning damage bill from the Metropolitan Remand Centre mayhem, which kicked off after authorities announced a smoking ban two years ago, has cost the equivalent of $1 million a week.
The cost is likely to skyrocket further, with repair work continuing daily.
Builders and other tradies can be seen being escorted in and out of the western suburbs complex under heavy security.
The wave of violence (right), which terrified staff and led to a massive police response, was triggered by bans on smoking across the state’s prison system.
The cost of the orgy of destruction will exceed the original bill for the construction of the MRC.
And taxpayers will be hit even further, with potentially costly compensation payments for staff physically hurt or suffering post-traumatic stress disorder due to the rioting.
The government spent $12 million repairing the riot damage before an independent review recommended what became a $95.3 million rebuild of the Ravenhall site, to fortify it against future riot damage.
Court costs to process the 102 men charged with riot offences could run into millions.
The Corrections Department has spent more than $87,000 in legal costs after it was charged by WorkSafe for not keeping a safe workplace.
Those responsible are trickling through the courts system after being charged by investigators from the dedicated Gallium taskforce.
At least 12 men have been sentenced for the mayhem. But dozens more are yet to be sentenced or face trial over the 2015 riot. Warrants to arrest four men allegedly involved have also been issued.
Many of those being sentenced had long criminal histories before the 2015 drama.
Among them was a man held in the MRC for firearms offences and drug trafficking. He received a maximum 28-month term for throwing rocks, bricks and poles at guards, and helping others smash through an internal security fence.
Another was given three years for arming himself with a pole and throwing tear gas canisters at guards. The man, with a long record of dishonesty and traffic offences, drove a buggy to ram fences to help others breach internal barriers. He later described the riot as “grouse”.
Opposition corrections spokesman Edward O’Donohue said the government’s failure to keep the prison secure meant “$100 million can’t be spent on new schools, hospitals and police stations”.
Corrections Minister Gayle Tierney pointed the finger at the former Liberal government, saying she had ordered the vital safety upgrade it had failed to make.