John Elferink dumped as NT Corrections Minister

THE Northern Territory’s Corrections Minister has been sacked by the Chief Minister who claims a culture of cover-up in the department withheld details of abuse of child prisoners

John Elferink has reportedly been dumped at NT Corrections Minister. PICTURE: Ivan Rachman

THE Northern Territory’s corrections minister has been sacked by the chief minister who claims a culture of cover-up in the department withheld details of abuse of child prisoners.

Chief minister Adam Giles announced Tuesday that John Elferink would retain his other portfolios but had been stripped of corrections following the broadacst of damning footage on ABC’s Four Corners of child prisoners being abused by staff.

“Over time there has most certainly been a culture of cover-up within the corrections system,” he said in Darwin.

“To think this footage has been withheld ... says this culture of cover-up doesn’t just go back to 2010, but it goes back way beyond then.”

He maintained he and the police and corrections commissioners hadn’t seen the footage before it was broadcast, even though it was quoted at length in the children’s commissioner’s report released last year and was mostly recorded by CCTV cameras within the centre.

“All information provided was sent off either for a review or police action,” Mr Giles said.

Two staff members depicted in the footage continue to work within the NT youth justice system and the others have either been sacked or resigned over the past two years, Corrections Commissioner Mark Payne said.

“Our people at Corrections were equally appalled,” he said of the footage, and the department is “certainly a different place in 2016 to what was identified in the footage last night”.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull immediately announced a royal commission into the NT’s youth detention system.

Numerous legal and human rights groups have deplored the use of mechanical restraints as barbaric but Mr Giles said they were necessary to prevent prisoners self-harming.

“When you have children threatening to smash their heads against walls, to break their arms on prison doors, who are threatening to spit on staff, we need to put in place the best humane procedures possible to try and protect the detainees and also the staff,” he said.

He denied his Country Liberals government’s tough talk and crackdowns on young offenders had caused them to be demonised by the community, leading to the abuse.

“The community of the NT is sick of youth crime, they’ve had a gutful of cars getting smashed up, houses getting broken into, people being assaulted; the majority of the community is saying, `let’s lock these kids up’,” Mr Giles said.

But Opposition Leader Michael Gunner said there should be an increased focus on early intervention, prevention and rehabilitation.

“It’s not leadership to torture children, it’s not tough to torture children, we can and must do better,” he said.

Chief Minister Adam Giles will take over the role, but Mr Elferink will stay on as Attorney-General and retain his other portfolios.

Mr Giles said he would also be permanently appointing an inspector-general for corrections.

The ABC’s Four Corners program on Monday night aired shocking footage of youths in detention at the Don Dale Centre in the NT being abused by custody officers.

Mr Elferink told the program he had not seen many of the videos including one where guards were saying “I’ll pulverise the ***er” as a young man in isolation was banging at windows.

“That demonstrates a lack of training,” he told Four Corners.

“When matters come to me I make sure they’re investigated.”