Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Subjects: Hazard reduction burns, regional crime inquiry, Junee Correctional Centre, Easter road safety.
E&OE…
Dave Eisenhauer: Member of Cootamundra, Steph Cooke joins us on the line. A very good morning Steph.
Steph Cooke: Good morning, Dave. It's great to be with you and your listeners again this morning, and thank you for accommodating me. A bit of a change up; last week in Parliament was absolutely crazy, so it's lovely to be with you today.
Dave Eisenhauer: And Steph, appreciate your time joining us as well on the local station, regardless of what day it is, and Steph what a nice day it is today; a little bit hazy with the hazard reduction burns around. That's an important part of our land management at the moment, Steph, no doubt, right across the electorate.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely, Dave. There's a lot of these hazard reduction burns occurring at the moment; they are absolutely critical. We know that after what was a great season for our farmers coming out of 2022 – with all of that water coming through our river systems and across the landscape – it has resulted in the build-up of fuel around the place, and that only presents us with challenges down the path when it comes to managing bushfires, preventing them, and being able to get on top of them quickly.
So, any hazard reduction that can occur in the cooler months is really important, and we will see a bit more of that, I think, over the weeks and months ahead. I've had notification of a few that are happening on the south side of Cootamundra.
Dave Eisenhauer: Yep.
Steph Cooke: And that's pretty important. But I think I can reassure your listeners that the RFS has very, very strict protocols and processes around how a preventative burn is approved. To start with, there's a consultation period; there are a number of hurdles that have to be surpassed before that burn can be undertaken so that by the time it happens, it's something that's recognised as needing to be done.
I know that it impacts on air quality a little bit and probably our views across the landscape, but it's pretty important at this time.
Dave Eisenhauer: Oh my word, it is in preparation for the oncoming summer season. It's a lot of forward planning going on with our agencies, without a doubt Steph. I've been watching the news and hearing it talked about: the regional crime inquiry. This was a huge effort on your behalf, Steph Cooke.
Steph Cooke: Dave, I'm relieved, absolutely relieved that we have had this successful outcome. It comes off the back of six months of intense campaigning, shining a spotlight on our regions and the challenges that we're facing, and I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you very, very much for allowing me the airtime to talk about some of the issues that we're facing in our small communities.
Now, we've had the government back down substantially; they have supported the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry into regional crime, and not before time. The disappointing component now is that we've actually lost six months; we could already be well on our way and starting to pilot or implement some of the solutions coming out of an inquiry.
So, the hard work really starts now, and I'm encouraging people to have their say through this inquiry. There is a link that's set up through the Parliament's website. If people would like to reach out to my office to better understand how they can have their say through that process, please get in touch with either my Young or Junee office. We will help you with that process because it's really important that our voice in small communities is heard.
Dave Eisenhauer: It's so important. It's something, as you mentioned, Steph, that you and I have talked about over a number of months, quite a few months, and it's something the community's certainly been concerned about around the southwestern, northeastern districts as well. I think every community really, Steph, but this is a positive move forward, without a doubt.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely. Again, we welcome the establishment of this inquiry. There'll be three Labor sitting members sitting on that inquiry. We've got our Shadow Police Minister, Paul Toole, who's the Member for Bathurst – so very, very well across the issues impacting regional communities from where he sits – on the inquiry. And then there's also the independent Member for Orange on that inquiry.
So, we do have that balance, I guess, between the city presence and voices from the bush, which is great. It will be, of course, an opportunity for those sitting members from the NSW Labor Government, who live in places like Fairfield and Bankstown, to come out to the regions and see exactly what we're talking about and what we're facing in our small communities, so that will be a great opportunity for them as well.
But at the end of the day, what we want to see coming out of this are some good strong recommendations about how we can better support the police in our communities. They are doing a wonderful job in all of our towns and villages, and I'd like to thank each and every one of them that are serving throughout the Cootamundra electorate.
We've got 28 police stations; most of them are one or two officer stations. They do a magnificent job. I was talking just yesterday, in fact, in Junee to our officer based out in Ganmain about some of the challenges that are facing the sector that she belongs to – which includes Junee, Temora, Lockhart, Ganmain, and Coolamon, so a very large area – and I just want to say thank you to all of those serving officers; hopefully this inquiry will shine a light on the issues they face, as well as some of the broader social problems we’re seeing, so that we can break the cycle of crime that exists in communities.
Dave Eisenhauer: Indeed, Steph. But the big congratulations go to you to make this thing move forward. You mentioned Junee; we've talked about this a number of times, and that is how the Junee Correctional Centre is going to be taken over by the State Government. Now, I've talked to a number of locals hailing from Junee; there's a fair bit of concern over the loss of investment, from (current operator) GEO Group, who have put a lot of time and effort in over the years, whether it's building a park bench, or paying for funds for the Show Society, or whatever it might be, Steph.
Steph Cooke: I really couldn't have said it better myself, Dave; it's a real worry. We flagged it straight away. This decision to de-privatise the Junee Correctional Centre was a shock decision. I called it ill-considered right from the get-go; it's four months since we had that announcement, and in that time, it's becoming more and more apparent what the community of Junee, and I include the small villages in that, will lose as a result of the GEO Group no longer being a corporate citizen in that community at all.
I mean, this is not a scaling down of their involvement. This will be a complete withdrawal. And when you look at what they have done, things like investing more than $77,000 in scholarships in the last five years alone to support our young people to further their education. We've seen another $172,000 in the last five years alone in terms of sponsorships and donations, as you just mentioned, the Show Society's halls and villages to help them with the running costs of these facilities.
And I was in Illabo yesterday. I had a catch-up with some very concerned members of the Illabo Sporting Bodies Hall there. They have an annual insurance bill of around about $1,500 for obvious reasons, and they are now facing a very uncertain future. These are the types of investments that GEO would make, not just in Junee itself. We've got the dog park there, we've got these benches, as you mentioned, but the small villages have relied very heavily on GEO's support just to keep the doors open, and with their withdrawal, I have grave concerns about the future of our town and villages.
Dave Eisenhauer: Steph, what happens? Because the State comes along, they take over the operations, but these funds, these grant opportunities, like we see with a lot of our corporate citizens – the bigger ones particularly, around the district – put so much money into, whether it's insurance for, as you mentioned, the halls around Illabo, whether it's the manufacturing of the park benches that the inmates do. Gee, there's some wonderful skills inside there that have benefited the district. The State doesn't do that, does it, as a rule?
Steph Cooke: Oh, no. Not only does it not do it as a rule, we've actually had it confirmed under oath at Budget Estimates that this support will cease. It has been made very, very clear there will be no more, and that in and of itself is very, very concerning.
We also know that the inmates, as part of their programs, spend a lot of time in the communities upkeeping parks, and gardens, and grounds. They jump on those mowers and whatnot, and that helps our volunteers. Our volunteers are already spending a lot of time in these organisations to keep them going.
Some of them are getting on a bit in age, and having that support and being able to get that physical work done really frees up the time of our volunteers – who may in some cases have health issues – to be able to do other things. Overall, it helps keep these organisations and these facilities going. That is all going to come to an end.
I think the last point I'll make also, Dave, which is really disappointing is the fact that GEO Group spends about $7.5 million a year in the town on goods and services just to keep the jail running. So, whether that's meat from the butchery, whether it's the bakery, the supermarket – $7.5 million; that's an enormous – and what's being clarified for us now through that Budget Estimates process is that unless those businesses in Junee can demonstrate that they are not just the cheapest, but also have the capacity to service correctional centres right across New South Wales, then they won't be considered for these tenders. Now, it's not unreasonable that a small business in Junee would not want to service correctional facilities right across New South Wales.
Dave Eisenhauer: They're absolutely not.
Steph Cooke: Silverwater and Goulburn, and whatnot; that's not feasible. And what we've had over the last 30-plus years is an arrangement where local businesses, local suppliers could feed directly into the jail, and of course, that generates local employment, there's local money going back into our local economy. It's all local, Dave, and that's what's going to come to an end when this decision takes effect in exactly one year time.
Dave Eisenhauer: There's people in Tumut and Gundagai that work for the GEO Group. They'll remain employed, but it's the spinoff effect down the Main Street, down Broadway, whatever it might be in Junee and surrounds as well, where people will have to come up with solutions moving forward. They'll think, "Oh, there might be some grants and things around" but that’s not quite the same as working with a corporate citizen. So, going to be a fairly tough journey ahead for the next 12 months to find solutions.
Steph Cooke: Absolutely Dave, and you mentioned some communities where we've got people working for GEO at the jail at the moment. That extends across to Coolamon, to Temora, to Cootamundra; this is a regional centre. But the other concerning thing on the employment front is that all of these correctional officers, they have to reapply for their jobs, Dave. That's not a guarantee.
Dave Eisenhauer: Oh, really?
Steph Cooke: Oh, absolutely. And so now we've got a situation where understandably, we've got corrections officers in Junee that are looking at their own circumstances and with the uncertainty facing them and whether they will have a job, they're seeking opportunities in other places. And so we are seeing people unfortunately leave the GEO Group at this time. That's not what we want to see. GEO are doing everything that they can to wrap around and look after their staff; they've always done that. They're a wonderful employer by all of the accounts that have come back to me, and now we're facing a really uncertain future on a number of fronts.
Dave Eisenhauer: Something that you and I, no doubt, Steph, will be talking about over the coming 12 months at length, I would believe.
Steph Cooke: Yes, I expect so Dave. Look, to your listeners, I think from my perspective, just know that I will continue to hold the State Government to account to the best of my ability on this issue to make sure that we get as much support out of the Government through the transition period because we're going to need it, Dave. There's no question of that. And if anyone has got any concerns, again, please reach out to my office and stay in touch because it's going to require a huge effort by all of us.
Dave Eisenhauer: Steph before we go, because you've got a massive day – as every single day is for you, seven days a week – you spend a lot of time on the region's roads; you see a lot of track; you see a lot of incidents and different areas; and a lot of potholes and a lot of branches over roads and all sorts of things. It's the Easter long weekend; a lot of other extra drivers are going to be arriving in our region for this Easter break. They may not be quite aware of some of the state of our country roads or the narrow bridges or the little single-lane roads. People need to be very careful this Easter long weekend if they're travelling around the region.
Steph Cooke: Yes, Dave. It is that time of the year when people use it as an opportunity to visit loved ones that perhaps they haven't seen since Christmas, or come out into the regions, which are beautiful at this time of year; the weather is lovely. So, we do welcome new people over this coming week or so. And it's really important that when people get behind the wheel, be very attentive to your driving, pay attention to what's going on around you.
The other thing I'd like to highlight is the fact that we are seeing a lot more wildlife move around through the regions at the moment. I've spoken to a lot of constituents that have had some near-misses with kangaroos and the like. So, it's really important that we look after each other at this time. And for locals just to appreciate that we do have a lot of visitors to the region. They might not be familiar with our roads, even though we are. And so there might be the need to have a little more consideration to the way that they're using the road as well as ourselves because at the end of the day, we want to avoid injuries, accidents, fatalities over the Easter long weekend. That's what the goal is at the end of the day.
Dave Eisenhauer: Well so far in 2024, the New South Wales road toll is higher this year compared to the same time last year. So, some good advice there Steph Cooke.
Steph Cooke: Oh look, it's a worry – it really is. Our road crash numbers are at this time heading in the wrong direction and we don't want to see any lives lost, but we don't want to see people injured either. Car accidents have a long-lasting traumatic effect on people that have been involved, whether they're injured or not. So, it's really important that we do everything that we can. It takes an effort by every single person that's getting behind the wheel at this time.
And again, it's an opportunity for me to thank our police officers who will be rostered on over the weekend. There are a number of us with public holidays who will be doing different non-work activities over this time or having some downtime with our families. But what we also know is that we will have officers out on our country roads. They're doing their best to keep everybody safe. It's a joint responsibility and I think it's important that people do the right thing.
Dave Eisenhauer: And Traffic and Highway put up some notices this morning there on their Facebook site actually that Operation Easter starts at midnight, double demerits kick in for the long weekend. There'll be quite a few extra police out and about, but they can only do so much. It's up to each individual driver to stick to the rules and that makes for a really enjoyable weekend for everyone.
Steph Cooke: And there's so many wonderful things happening across the region this weekend, and of course, it's an important time for Christians who mark this time of the year in a very religious way and we recognise that. But at the end of the day, we just want everybody to be able to come together, enjoy the weekend, spend time together, and return home safely.
Dave Eisenhauer: And Steph to you, a very happy Easter to you and the family as well, and to the puppies. We've got to mention the dogs there as well too, who get to see mum on the rarest of occasions, sometimes late at night, rolling back in. They'll hopefully get to see you a little bit more this weekend, Steph.
Steph Cooke: Look, that's the intention Dave. They're beautiful and I relish every opportunity I get to spend time with them. And it's amazing now as I move across the electorate at the number of people who ask me how they are. And to you and to all of your listeners, happy Easter, and I look forward to catching up with you in the not too distant future.
Dave Eisenhauer: Indeed Steph, and thank you very much for joining us on the local station today. Appreciate your time and we'll catch up in a fortnight.
Steph Cooke: Sounds great. Thanks, Dave.
Dave Eisenhauer: There you go, a big thank you to the Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke.