Government sticks with $70m detention plan
THE Territory Government has rejected using the vacant Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre as a replacement for the maligned Don Dale facility
Northern Territory
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THE Territory Government has rejected using the vacant Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre as a replacement for the Don Dale centre, choosing instead to spend $70 million on purpose-built youth detention facilities.
Wickham Point sits empty and, the subject of an $88 million legal dispute between the Federal Government and its owners, developer and philanthropist John “Foxy” Robinson and pearl magnate Nicholas Paspaley.
The rejection follows four Don Dale detainees who allegedly laid siege to the correctional facility last Friday. The centre was damaged after the youths allegedly started a fire.
The Minister for Territory Families Dale Wakefield said the Gunner Government was committed to the new facilities in Darwin and Alice Springs in line with its response to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.
“The November 2017 final report of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT stated that the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre was not fit to put young people back on the right path, and that it needed to close,” she said.
“The recommendation was that new purpose-built detention accommodation was required to accommodate young people.
“The Territory Labor Government accepted this recommendation and will be constructing new purpose-built youth justice centres for Darwin and Alice Springs.”
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Wickham Point sits on 47,382 sqm of land, is fully fenced, heavily secured and offers 750 rooms, each with their own bathrooms in three separate 250-room pods.
Each pod has an outdoor recreation area.
There is a dedicated mental health facility and a general health facility. A soccer field, full kitchen, classrooms and administration areas form part of the complex.
But Ms Wakefield said it was not purpose-built and not fit for young people.
“The Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2015 report “The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014” made specific recommendations in relation to Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre,” she said.
“The report stated that it should not be considered as an alternative place of detention for children because the environment, educational opportunities, recreational and health services are inadequate for children.”
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