WORK COMMENCES ON NEW PINE RIVERS COURTHOUSE

Work on the new $18.3 million courthouse and police watchhouse at Pine Rivers is underway, with the disused Gympie Road site set to be transformed into one of Queensland’s most technologically advanced justice precincts.

The Attorney-General and Justice Minister Kerry Shine and Police Minister Judy Spence joined the Member for Aspley Bonny Barry and Member for Kallangur Ken Hayward in turning the first sod on the much-anticipated project.

“The new $11 million state-of-the-art courthouse will feature two Magistrates courtrooms, chambers, registry, interview rooms, videoconferencing and victim support facilities,” he said.

“It will also feature the latest technology such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) facilities to enable child witnesses and sexual assault victims to give evidence from a separate room.”

Ms Spence said the watchhouse would replace the two holding cells currently used at the Petrie Police Station.

“This new 17-cell watchhouse will provide a modern and larger self-contained facility that will reduce this risk and will assist police in their job to provide safe and secure prisoner containment,” she said

“As it will be co-located in the Strathpine Courts Complex, police will now have a secure link from the watchhouse through to the courts.

“It will also give police more room to accommodate the increasing number of detainees at the Petrie Police Station and minimise the transportation of prisoners to the Brisbane Watchhouse if they are required for longer-term detention.”

Mr Shine said the new justice precinct had been designed to reflect the character of the area and would meet the growing needs of the local community.

"Hundreds of local people use the current courthouse each year, including members of the public, witnesses, judicial officers, police, legal counsel and staff," he said.

“This new facility will meet their needs now and long into the future.”

Mr Shine said the new courthouse is part of an ongoing program to upgrade and build new courthouses across the State.

“The Queensland Government invested a total of $32.3 million for courthouse infrastructure in the 2006-07 State Budget,” he said.

“The Government is committed to providing all Queenslanders with access to justice."

A sign, featuring a 3-D impression of the completed complex, is now in place at the Gympie Road site.

The project is scheduled for completion in mid 2008.

Media contact:
Paul Holmes (Attorney-General’s office) 07 3239 6400 or 0407 378 796
Alison Smith (Police Minister’s office) 07 3239 6218 or 0439 673 287