New Attorney-General repeats promise to release ‘summary’ of report in to prison riot
New Attorney-General Chansey Paech has promised to release a ‘summary’ of a report into a riot that caused $30m in damage to Holtze Prison two years ago.
Northern Territory
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UPDATED: ATTORNEY-GENERAL Chansey Paech has repeated an almost two-year-old promise by new Chief Minister Natasha Fyles to release a “summary” of a report into a riot at Holtze Prison.
The riot in May 2020 caused $30m damage and saw multiple prisoners charged with various offences.
The following month, Ms Fyles, who was then the Attorney-General, promised to release a summary of a report into the riot by Professor John Paget but is still yet to do so.
The NT News this week revealed the government had refused an application under Freedom of Information legislation for a copy of the report in defiance of the urging of Ombudsman NT, Peter Shoyer.
But when asked about the report at a press conference after that article was published, Mr Paech said there would be “an outcome on that shortly”.
“I’ve had the Chief Minister already reach out and talk to me about that,” he said.
“I’m certainly working with my agency to look at the public release of the summary, and that’s something that I’ll actually engage with and we can have an outcome on that shortly.”
EARLIER: THE NT government has refused to release two reports under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation into a riot that caused $30m in damage to Holtze Prison two years ago, in defiance of the Ombudsman NT.
In his latest annual report in September, Ombudsman Peter Shoyer said he had been provided with a copy of a report into the riot by Professor John Paget and an accompanying report by consultant Tim Lyons.
But Mr Shoyer said his access was strictly on the condition that he was barred from disclosing their contents to anyone.
“I accepted a copy on that basis because it allowed me to consider whether there was a need for further immediate action,” he wrote.
As a result, Mr Shoyer found while there was no need for immediate action by his office, “the Paget report also points to numerous matters that require action in relation to the broader administration of correctional services”.
“The report includes numerous recommendations for improvement,” he wrote.
“They all point to a need for extensive action across a whole range of correctional services functions. They all identify a need for fundamental or paradigm change.”
In a letter to the chief executive of the Department of Attorney-General and Justice, reproduced in the annual report, Mr Shoyer said it was “clearly important” that the government implemented Prof Paget’s recommendations and “there is no doubt that implementation will take time”.
“However, I have previously emphasised the importance of engaging the public and reframing public debate about correctional issues if progress is to be made,” he wrote.
“With that in mind, I believe the reports, and in particular the Paget report, contain a wealth of analysis and information on the situation and past incidents in the NT and elsewhere, that will prove invaluable in informing public debate and promoting fundamental change.
“I therefore look forward to publication in the near future of the reports (or the substance of the reports if editing is considered necessary), including recommendations.”
But the office of then Chief Minister Michael Gunner rejected an FOI application for the access to the reports from the NT News in March, on the basis that “the information was considered by an executive body” and was therefore exempt.
An internal review of that decision was also knocked back earlier this month on the basis that the reports were “not subject to a public interest test”.
When then Attorney-General, and now Chief Minister Natasha Fyles announced the commissioning of the Paget report in June 2020, she said the government had “committed” to releasing a summary of Prof Paget’s review “from the outset”.
Almost two years on, it is still yet to do so and Ms Fyles’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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