DAVID GARRETT (ACT): It is no surprise that the Greens are opposing the Corrections (Use of Court Cells) Amendment Bill just as they have opposed every single law and order bill that has been brought before the House. Comrade David Clendon has learnt very fast to toe the party line along with the rest. I say to Mr Clendon that I do not know what the reality is on Planet Gaia, but people do not actually go to jail in this country for minor offending. He should go and look.

One of the most interesting parts of the debate was what Mr Mallard said. I have heard the suggestion of putting prisoners on an island many times, but I have never ever heard it from the Labour Opposition. So I was very intrigued to hear that Mr Mallard thought that one solution would be tents on Stewart Island as a temporary measure.

Hon Clayton Cosgrove: What about Hawaii? What about Honolulu?

DAVID GARRETT: As Mr Cosgrove is aware, I have actually seen tent jails over in Arizona, and they seem to work fairly well. I welcome Mr Mallard’s openness of thinking and his willingness to consider what has, in the past, been dismissed as total red-neckery. I congratulate Mr Mallard for that breadth, that openness, and that willingness to consider innovative solutions to problems.

No one will argue, and I certainly will not, that long-term or even regular incarceration in court cells is a good idea. Of course it is not. But everyone over on the other side of the House has seemingly forgotten that—if I recall correctly, not so long ago—prisoners were held in prison vans outside police stations and courts because there was nowhere else to hold them. I would be very surprised to hear anyone argue, even on Planet Gaia, that incarceration in prison vans is a good idea.

This is a sensible measure. It will not normalise the use of court cells. I say to Mr Clendon that the sky will not fall. We will not have every court cell in the country full of prisoners. But in emergency situations it is sensible and, indeed, humane that prisoners be held in court cells with running water rather than in a van outside. We will be supporting the bill.