Indigenous Victorian died in custody MP Enver Erdogen confirms

Victoria’s correction Minister has confirmed another Indigenous death in custody – a Torres Strait Islander man – as the MP fronted a powerful truth-telling inquiry.

Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Prof Eleanor Bourke AM. Picture: Brianna Young

An Indigenous man has been revealed to have died in Victorian custody as the state’s correction Minister appeared before a powerful truth-telling inquiry.

It came as the Minister insisted the currently empty Western Plains prison would be used and could replace other ageing facilities.

Speaking at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan revealed a 70-year-old Torres Strait Islander man, who was in custody, died in hospital last week.

He said this meant he was the 34th Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in Victoria to die while in custody since a royal commission into the issue was held in 1991.

Mr Erdogan told the commission the state was responsible for Aboriginal deaths in the corrections system.

Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan speaks at the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

“Many of these deaths were a direct result of critical and unacceptable failings

within our institutions,” he said.

“Personally, and on behalf of the State, I apologise for them and for the profound grief and trauma those deaths have caused.

“I send my deepest sympathies to the families, friends and wider Aboriginal community for the loss and trauma this has caused.

Yoorrook Chair Professor Eleanor Bourke thanked the Minister his apology but said change was needed.

“Aboriginal people are dying at high rates in custody, not because they are more likely to die in custody than others,” she said.

“They are dying because of the staggering rates at which governments are jailing Aboriginal people.

“The shocking rate at which governments are imprisoning Aboriginal people is entirely preventable.”

Mr Erdogan was also questioned about the $1.1 billion prison built at Western Plains.

The 1250 bed facility is yet to house a single inmate and the Minister was asked if it was built to house a soaring prison population created by tough bail laws from 2018.

Commission members Kevin Bell, Sue-Anne Hunter, Prof Eleanor Bourke, Travis Lovett and Prof Maggie Walter. Picture: Brianna Young

Calls have been mounting to use the site, which has better facilities and cultural elements, amid issues with ageing or poorly built jails.

Mr Erdogan would not speculate on the exact reason the facility was first designed but said the current goal was still to get Western Plains up and running.

“Clearly the population was increasing (in 2018) and I’m sure that the bail reforms were a consideration in commissioning,” he said.

“You need settings for cultural spaces, you need modern health services provided on site.

“I’ve been out Western Plains. It genuinely is a modern brand new prison, state of the art.

“The goal is to operationalise it in due course.

“Because we haven’t had the increase in prison population they were expecting in 2018 and because the numbers have almost stabilised at the moment.

“The long term plan now is to hire people and eventually operationalise it.”

Mr Erdogan said he believed it should be used to replace older prisons.

“There’s ageing infrastructure, you decommission older units and I guess use the newer facility,” he said.

“That’s what I’d like to see and I think there’s planning going around that.

“We should use our new facilities with the appropriate cultural spaces as soon as possible.”

“At the time I think they were predicting an expanded population.

“The way I see this, when I look at the system since coming to the portfolio, is that it should replace ageing infrastructure.”

Opposition corrections spokesman Brad Battin said the government was spending millions a year on the facility when it could be spent on community protection or keeping people out of prison.

“Not only Western Plains, we’ve also got a youth detention centre that is sitting empty,” he said.

“How does the government justify spending $1.5bn on infrastructure that’s not been used when they could have invested that into making sure people aren’t entering the justice system?

“Or those that aren’t entering getting the courses and support they need so we don’t see them reoffending.”

Cherry Creek Youth Justice Centre was completed in June last year. Source: The Community Safety Building Authority online

Mr Erdogan was also grilled about the alarming number of isolations recorded in the youth justice system.

Workers within Mamsbury and other centres have warned that staff shortages are contributing to an increased number of lockdowns, despite isolation being a human rights issue.

Mr Erdogan said he hoped that the opening of a new site at Cherry Creek would reduce this practice because it used a new model to deal with those in the system.

“I want to be clear, isolation should never be used as a form of punishment and as a matter of last resort,” he said.

[e-mail]