Personally, I think that it's pretty obvious why our prisons have such a woeful record with respect to rehabilitation, if people with attitudes such as Col publishes here ad nauseam are involved in advising their management.

Surprise, surprise - a self-professed management consultant to a prison doesn't want scrutiny of any kind over what goes on inside. Tell us, Col - it wouldn't be a private prison that you sell your talents to, would it?

Hutlen - The embedding of journalists into frontline positions in the Iraq war, IMHO was a reckless and stupid act – for the reason of skewed perspective of what is “normal” in an “abnormal” set of circumstances.

Journalists have free right to express whatever view they like, regardless of their experience or understanding. When they start to presume someone who is incarcerated for serious offences is going to honour the ideals of “truth and justice” to the same degree as the people trained, employed and vetted to oversee their “stay” or the journalist his self, then just like being at the front line of battle, he is most likely interpreting everything through a skewed perspective.

I would suggest – just like any other process, errors of action do happen (be it incarcerating prisoners or making widgets),– but prison inspectorate are their to act on behalf of the public as the oversight – just as “Internal Affairs” act in police forces. These internal service entities are not responsible to local prison management.

I would think that journalists should themselves be held to some standard of “ethic” before they can expect to intercede in matters beyond their ambit of authority, some journo’s being notorious for the slipperiness of their words – the paparazzi, as examples of journalistic “integrity” can hardly crawl when it comes to professing any standard of behaviour – so – journalists need to clean up their own act before they start crusading to fix the world and criticise other professions.

I would further note – not all staff working inside many prisons are custodial staff – they include clinicians of various disciplines and are augmented by welfare agency staff and charity volunteers – (not motivated by the desire for a headline), all having been cleared by police checks on their background.

garra – playing the person not the issue – ignored - beyond I am not prepared to declare whether I work for a private or public run prison or to be specific on any matter which may identify my role beyond what I have already disclosed.

Col. Without journo’s and writers this forum wouldn’t exist. If journo’s had access to some of the real info beforehand (Iraq) or were able to enable more awareness of it, ‘some’ of the ‘swinging’ pro war may not have been so ‘pro’ or at least had the benefit of access to more than just the mainstream media’s “skewed perspective”. But this is the stuff of other threads, “cleansed” hard drives, “official secrecy” and sbs docos.

Yes, journo’s are a pain, especially when they might be onto something, especially in jails and similar places. We’re not talking about “errors of action”, we are talking about murder.

If the inspectorates’ role is similar to that of Internal Affairs, and murders are still occurring, and on CCT tapes, and while officers of the Ombudsman’s office are walking around, perhaps the role of journo’s is more now a necessity than it ever has been – and of course it is – in fact it usually is whenever legislation disallows it. People are sent to jail to deny them their freedom – fair enough, but they are not sent there for the denial of “the ideals of truth and justice” albeit nobody really knows what those ideals are. But the fact that they might be subjected to some unofficial second tier punishment environment which can include the loss of their very lives seems “abnormal” indeed; it flies in the face of anything resembling an ideal and surely makes for a criminal justice system that benefits very few.

You say that “criminals get what they deserve”. Maybe you’re right but how do we know and if journo’s are no good for that, what the hell are they good for? Keep at it Bernie.

Bernie Matthews’ article should shock readers. It should be read as a warning to the community. Just as the Bali Bombers, Washington Sniper, and the Snickers Bar Killer say very clearly.

If we don’t listen to all members of our communities they will shout at us. And no matter what Bully Bush or the local prison governor do they are powerless. Honest people admit that fact.

To persuade the public that higher security or more brutal institutional responses will win, is the ultimate lie by those who lose their power by the truth. Their responses will ensure that the suicide bombers of Baghdad are only months away from the streets of Brisbane and Sydney. And we will all cower behind security fences provided by big business working with government. Our complacent civilized society is under dire threat.

The spectre of Schapelle, Hicks, and the refugees doesn’t make many proud. And the $70,000 bill per person per year for 23,000 prisoners in Australia ensures our community services don’t get support. Increasing exponentially while creating crime in the process.

The only way forward is a community response. Mentoring and restorative justice. Lose the wars on drugs and terrorism and accept the entitlement to dignity of all humans so we can all survive.

Slavery and capital punishment were abolished after a long struggle. Our penal colony origin gives us the authority to make an offering to the world.

The dungeon is where it starts. Demand our right to meet those humans inside and hear their stories. Then the victims will be acknowledged both outside and in. And the dialogue begins.

Media and community in!

Brett Collins
JUSTICE ACTION

Giving credence to the convicted is like letting the alcoholics run a brewery or junkies the dispensary.

No one is put into prison as a first option - this contemporary society bends over backward to avoid it - with non-custodial sentences and fines the preferred option - far from the old deportation for stealing a loaf of bread.

If you end up in prison it is because you are considered too dangerous to freely mix in society (convicted culpable drivers excepted - they are the only ones who ever show any remorse for their actions) - that reasoning is partly due to $70,000 pa bill for each person incarcerated (per Brett Collins post).

So before anyone with an ounce of sense starts to wonder at the "veracity" of claims made by criminals (and how their plight has nothing to do with them but is a fault of the "system" of which they are victims), first canvas the prison custodial and inspectorate staff - their record for honesty has fewer blemishes and more credibility than that of ex-bank robbers, scam artists, drug dealers, murderers, paedophiles and thugs.

I think we were only talking about a starting point Col, you know, not the right to run the prison, just the right to not be killed thingy!

You are suggesting that all people in jail are ‘dangerous’ – except for convicted culpable drivers – who are also the ‘only’ ones who show remorse?

And what about all the short term, less serious crime people and what about prisoners who haven’t been convicted but are waiting for a hearing - are they all ‘dangerous’? - there’s plenty of them.

“Veracity” of claims indeed.