Wednesday, 18 March 2026

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:29): (1274) My question is to the Minister for Corrections. Minister, isn’t it a fact that your policies have allowed a convicted paedophile to use Victoria’s human rights laws to sue the state over his treatment in a women’s prison?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:30): I reject the premise of Mrs McArthur’s question. I think the premise is wrong. I think decisions around placements in our corrections system are based around safety and security and that is the approach taken. As the minister, I have been very clear in my expectation that safety and security are always paramount, especially when you are running a corrections system. There are professionals in place that make these decisions and weigh up a range of factors, the paramount one being safety and security.

But your question was more about impending litigation, and you would appreciate that it has never been my practice to comment on individual prisoners in our system, let alone on a matter that is litigated, for a variety of reasons – because of the independence of our courts but also not to compromise the state’s position, because we are committed to running a humane and safe system and our settings are designed around that. There have been recent policy updates, which I know you are quite familiar with now and you follow closely, and I back those decisions. I have updated the policy. We have officers and professionals that make the decisions about the appropriate settings. Safety and security will always come first, but I am not going to be commenting on a matter that may be before the courts.

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:31): Thank you, Minister. Well, Minister, you are ultimately responsible for the inmates in your prisons. This biological male sexually abused his five-year-old daughter, was housed in a women’s prison and is now suing the state after being moved to isolation. A female inmate sexually assaulted by another biological male prisoner has already been paid off in secret. Why does your new policy fail to introduce a blanket ban on convicted sex offenders exploiting the system to enter women’s prisons?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:32): There was a bit in that supplementary, Mrs McArthur, but what I will say is that I am never going to be commenting about individual placement of prisoners in this place. What I will do is update the policy where I believe it is appropriate, and I have updated the policy around these matters to make sure that safety and security are the paramount consideration. But I will say that I know the position of those opposite changes quite often, and I have noticed that the opposition leaders have changed a number of times, especially on Sky after dark. I will give credit to Mrs Deeming; she has actually been quite consistent on this matter.

Renee Heath: On a point of order, President, on two different areas: the first is that question time is not an opportunity to attack the opposition. Secondly, the question was clear: why does the minister’s new policy fail to introduce a blanket ban on convicted sex offenders? I ask you to bring him back to the question.

The PRESIDENT: Repeating the question is not a point of order. On your first point of order, I was not sure where the minister was going. I do not think he actually started attacking anyone in his commentary.

Enver ERDOGAN: My goal was just to update the chamber on the shifting position of those opposite throughout this debate. I have never shifted my position. My position has always been clear: the safety and wellbeing of prisoners is always paramount in the corrections system. I did direct the department to update the policy, and that has been implemented now. We need to see how it obviously works in the system on the ground, but I understand that it has been quite positive. The focus is safety and security; that has always been my position, and it always will be. For those opposite, their position seems to be shifting every time someone gets up.