41 Work Camp Prisoners join with Police and Emergency Services

Low risk, low security Work Camp prisoners from Townsville and Rockhampton prison farms will travel to Ingham tomorrow to assist with the flood relief effort.

Corrective Services Minister Judy Spence said that experienced Corrective Services officers and 41 prisoners (37 men and 4 women) will join emergency services crews and the local community embarking on the flood clean-up.

“We envisaged help may be needed, so I activated contingency plans late last week to prepare prisoner work crews for deployment should North Queensland accept the offer of assistance,” Ms Spence said.

“This morning 21 prisoners and three supervisors from Rockhampton will travel to Townsville Prison in preparation for deployment tomorrow,” said Ms Spence.

This prisoner work camp crew will leave Townsville Correctional Centre tomorrow arriving in Ingham a few hours later.

“The Prisoner work camp crew will be self sufficient and will take with them clean up equipment including vehicles, trailers, chainsaws, shovels and gloves – and they will work alongside disaster relief crews wherever they are required, as they successfully did in the Gap at the end of last year and at other major clean up efforts over recent years,” said Ms Spence.

“This morning we are dispatching a crew of 24 work camp prisoners and three supervisors from Darling Downs Correctional Centre,” said Ms Spence.

That crew will travel 1400kms to Townsville in anticipation of a request for further assistance.

Ms Spence said: “We’ll take advice from the State Disaster Management Group, but if need be, the extra prisoner work camp crew could also be on the ground in Ingham by Friday.”

Work camp custodial officers and prisoners have an outstanding record of providing assistance to communities after natural disasters.

“At this time last year, we had a record number of over 100 prisoners completing storm and flood assistance work in areas including Beaudesert, Mackay and Charleville,” said Ms Spence.

“It will be tough, hard work and work camp prisoners involved in these assistance efforts have always taken pride in making a real contribution to help a community get back on its feet.”

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