Unit 18: Roger Cook slams predecessor Colin Barnett for criticism from ‘political grave’ on youth justice

Roger Cook has blasted his predecessor Colin Barnett for criticism over the conditions at Unit 18, saying the former Liberal Premier “lit the fuse” on youth justice by closing the Rangeview remand facility. Accusing Mr Barnett of speaking from his political grave, Mr Cook also revealed a business case for a new facility at Banksia Hill, which would allow for the closure of Unit 18 at Casuarina Prison, had been finished and was now being considered by Treasury. In an interview with The West, Mr Barnett said the conditions at Unit 18 bordered on “torture” and called on the State’s political leaders to show courage and close the facility. The comments came after the deaths of Cleveland Dodd last October at Unit 18, which led to a coronial inquest, and the suicide of a 17-year-old at Banksia Hill last month. “It was Colin Barnett, as premier of Western Australia, who lit the fuse to the powder keg which is Banksia Hill today,” Mr Cook said on Tuesday. “He’s the one that closed down Rangeview Remand Centre and produced the situation which has led to the complications and the difficulties that we’ve all had to confront now as a government. “Now you have Colin Barnett speaking from his political grave, criticizing the very policies which he is responsible for.” The centre was closed in 2012, with juveniles on remand moved into Banksia Hill, and the Murdoch site used for the Wandoo women’s reintegration facility. Asked during the interview about the decision, Mr Barnett said Rangeview was “clearly outdated” when it was closed. “I’m not wishing to be political and Liberal versus Labor,” he said. “If there’s some culpability that goes back — I mean, it is seven years ago that I was Premier, so it’s a long time — I think this is an issue of now. “If there’s to be some sort of more public inquiry, that’s fine, and I don’t mind people looking back into the past — maybe mistakes were made, but this is seven years into a Labor government.” Mr Cook defended the Government’s approach to youth justice, saying Banksia Hill was significantly different to what it used to be. Work was progressing on a new facility at the centre, he said, with a business case completed and a funding plan being developed. Liberal leader Libby Mettam said a Government under her leadership would make the closure of Unit 18 a “priority”. The suicide of the 17-year-old boy at Banksia Hill last month dominated Parliament on its return on Tuesday, with Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia defending the centre’s handling of the boy. Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au