Our prisons are not for sale

Date: 10 February 2009

Dear fellow unionists and supporters,

At this very minute the NSW State Government is considering selling off prisons in Cessnock and Parklea and court transport services to international corporations.

The Prison Officers Vocational Branch of the Public Service Association needs your support.

Will you join us in telling the NSW State Government that prisons are not for sale? You can sign our Not For Sale petition.

Selling our prisons to corporations will guarantee job losses, lack of scrutiny and transparency and increased risks for the prisoners and the surrounding communities. Privatised prisons overseas have seen increased numbers of escapes, more assaults on prisoners and guards and higher re-offending rates.

We need to ask the question - who will this benefit from the sell off? Private prisons are run purely for profit which means higher inmate numbers and cost cutting measures provide bigger profits and better results on the stockmarket. Is this how we want to run our justice system? NSW prison officers oppose these plans because we do not believe corporations should be trusted with a fundamental part of the justice system.

We have a small but critical window of opportunity while the government is deciding. They need to hear that our jails are not for sale - loud and clear.

You can sign the Not for Sale petition here.

If you have already signed up, why not tell your mates about it.

Thanks for your support,
Matt Bindley,
POVB Chair, PSA

P.S. When prisons are privatised, everyone suffers. As one of our members, Andrew Griffiths, summed it up at the Parklea Rally, "I think the general community feels safer knowing that it's in Government hands, and that it's not being run purely for a profit." To see Andrew and others, watch the video.

For further information

Contact:	Matt Bindley, Chair, PSA Prison Officers Branch
Union:	Public Service Association of NSW
Phone:	9220 0947
Email:	mbindley@psa.asn.au
WWW:	http://psa.labor.net.au/

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