Inmates end Pt Augusta jail protest
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Port Augusta: jail unrest has ended (ABC News)
A 24-hour stand-off at Port Augusta jail in South Australia is over.
The Public Service Association (PSA) says staff of the prison, 300 kilometres north of Adelaide, will not to return to their jobs until the inmates involved in unrest have been moved elsewhere.
The union represents about 120 staff, including prison officers.
PSA secretary Jan McMahon says members will also insist that damaged sections of the prison be repaired.
"They have determined that they will not open the Port Augusta prison until those prisoners who have been involved in the riot have been removed," she said.
"As we understand, the units that have been affected by the riot are completely damaged."
SA Correctional Services Minister Carmel Zollo says prisoners involved in the unrest will be moved to Adelaide.
"I think it's important that those prisoners are dealt with in a different institution and clearly the police now have a role - it's their discretion," she said.
"There'll be an investigation as to what the future holds for those prisoners."
SA police confirmed that 37 inmates were involved in the trouble, which started on Thursday afternoon when prisoners were denied their fortnightly outdoor recreation time because of a staffing shortage.
The inmates severely damaged equipment in cell blocks and smashed windows.
Six inmates withdrew from the protest at lunchtime on Friday and police announced an end to the uprising late in the afternoon.
Point made
Police Superintendent James Blandford says inmates ended their protest because they had made their point.
"All prisoners have been accounted for and control has been re-established," he said.
"There have been no injuries, no overt acts of violence.
"The incident ... over the last 24 hours was resolved through a lot of intense negotiation and, in no small part too, a lot of goodwill and co-operation shown by the prisoners."
He says the damage to the jail is being assessed.
"There has been some damage - we're in the current process of investigating and determining how much damage has been done so I can't actually give you a cost estimate," he said.
A former chaplain at Port Augusta prison, David Wright, says inmates in the high-security Bluebush cell block rarely get a chance for outdoor activities.
He says cancelling an outdoor session would have been the catalyst for the stand-off.
"They get one outside activity a fortnight, and it goes for just one afternoon, 1:30 'til about three," he said.
"And to have that called off short, that would be the straw that broke the camel's back without a doubt."
The Minister says the Government makes no apologies for its policy of having two prisoners to a cell at Port Augusta.
But Ms Zollo says that was not responsible for the uprising.
"The situation occurred because the prisoners were denied the opportunity to go onto the oval," she said.
"We elected to put the safety of our correctional services officers before the prisoners. They were needed ... in the infirmary."
Prison not full, says Foley
Acting Premier Kevin Foley is adamant that Port Augusta prison is not at capacity.
"Prisons are not designed for absolute comfort and the doubling up of prisoners - that is two per cell - is both a common practice and an appropriate practice," he said.
But the PSA has a different view.
Ms McMahon says problems in the SA prison system are not confined to Port Augusta.
"There were three overflow prisoners. That means the prison at Port Augusta, according to our members, was full yesterday," she said.
"As we speak, at Mobilong Prison (another SA jail, near Murray Bridge) there are currently 15 mattresses on the floor because the prison at Mobilong is full.
"So there is severe overcrowding in South Australian prisons."
