Victorian Greens unveil plans to close Barwon Prison and Loddon Prison next year

Dan Andrews has asked “where would prisoners go” as he blasted a Greens’ proposal to shut two prisons to redirect money to prevent crime.

A prisoner at Loddon Prison, one of the jails proposed to be shut down under the policy.

Daniel Andrews has blasted the Victorian Greens’ proposal to close two prisons and redirect criminals to other facilities, suggesting the plan could end with criminals being directed to Brunswick.

Two of Victoria’s jails would be closed and about 850 prisoners transferred to other facilities, while perpetrators of victimless crimes would be given a presumption of bail under the bold plan to dramatically reduce the state’s prison system.

The Premier said the bold plan, as revealed by the Saturday Herald Sun, was a “really curious” idea that deceived voters.

“Where would those prisoners go? Would those prisoners go to Prahran or Windsor? Would they go to Flemington or Kensington?” he questioned.

“If you shut a prison and there’s prisoners in it – that are there because a magistrate or a judge has determined independently that those people should be incarcerated – where do those people go?

“I’m not following this. I’m not sure what they are saying but they ought to be upfront with their voters and they ought to be clear with the communities they pretend to represent about where all these prisoners would go.”

The comments come despite Greens justice spokesman Tim Read outlining the prisoners would be sent to existing facilities, such as Ravenhall, Hopkins, Marngoneet and Fulham.

“If (the Greens’) view, clearly, is that they should be in places like North Melbourne, Flemington and Kensington or Prahran or Windsor, well you should be upfront with people that you pretend to speak for,” Mr Andrews said.

“Maybe they’re all going to Brunswick. I don’t know.

“I don’t think much of what the Greens put out is clear to be honest.

“You can speak to the Greens about policies, if you can call them policies.”

Barwon Prison would close by mid-next year under the proposal. Picture: Mark Stewart

Loddon Prison would also be shut down. Picture: AAP

The Victorian Greens will on Saturday unveil their plans to close Barwon Prison and Loddon Prison by mid-next year.

Maximum-security prisoners would be redirected to the Chisholm Road Prison, while other inmates would be sent to Ravenhall, Hopkins, Marngoneet and Fulham.

Redundancy packages would be offered to about 25 per cent of impacted staff, while 75 per cent would likely be sent to work at other prisons.

An independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) costing found the plan would save $215.1m over the next decade, including nearly $60 million before 2026.

The Greens have vowed to instead funnel the recouped money towards preventive crimes measures, including on services that improve community safety such as housing and early intervention programs.

According to monthly data from Corrections Victoria, there were 314 inmates locked up in Barwon and 529 in Loddon as of September 30 this year.

No prisoners would be freed ahead of their release date under this plan.

However, the Greens’ wider justice pledge – which includes reforming the state’s bail laws and increasing the age of criminal responsibility to 14 – would let low-level offenders of victimless crimes to walk free.

Alleged criminals that pose a risk of reoffending, committing violence, interfering with a witness or skipping the country wouldn’t get bail.

Greens justice spokesman Tim Read said amending bail laws is crucial to reducing the number of people being kept unnecessarily behind bars.

“A large proportion of our prisons are being used as a very expensive waiting room for the courts,” he said.

“Reforming bail laws would require legislation that passes the parliament, and realistically that’s probably a 12-month process, but once that comes into effect there would be a very rapid reduction of the prison population.”

Dr Read said prior to the pandemic the Andrews government had increased the rate of spending on police and prisons more than any other portfolio area.

But despite this, he said, they haven’t been able to point to any evidence that any of these billions of dollars have improved community safety.

“Victoria is spending billions on jailing people when we know it’s a very poor method of preventing crime, and we should be saving that money where we can so we can spend it on services that we know work better at preventing crime,” he said.

“While smarter countries are closing prisons and lowering crime, in Victoria our state government is funnelling billions into prisons and police.

“This is despite the fact that study after study has revealed this does not improve community safety.

“The government should be investing this money in the things that actually prevent offending in the first place.”

Originally published as Victorian Greens unveil plans to close Barwon Prison and Loddon Prison next year