Growing Beyond Prisons @ FlyBy Night Club, Fremantle(22/01/2012)

Thu 26th Jan, 2012 in Gig Reviews

Sunday at the Fly By Night Club was an evening of inspiration and consternation. The event was titled “Growing Beyond Prisons” and was a run by concerned members of the community, for concerned members of the community. The theme of the evening was the overpopulation of WA’s prisons. The event was separated into speakers and music. The musical interludes were like a tonic to the serious nature of the speakers but also an opportunity to ponder and discuss with fellow audience members the ideas and information presented. After a welcome to country, an introduction by MC of the evening, Noongar Radio host Karla Hart and introduction by the organiser of the event, MLC for Fremantle, Lynn Maclaren opened the event.

The first musicians were Carrol Hall and Rob Arathun who performed some lovely soul music. Hall’s voice was soothing and beautiful and a lovely way to ease into some serious discussion to follow.

The first speaker was Toni Walkington, secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union and Civil Service Association of WA. Ms Walkington gave an interesting insight into the negative effects overpopulation has on staff within the Department of Corrective Services; the negative effects overpopulation has on prisoners, for example it limits the availability of rehabilitative programs (e.g. people sentenced to less than 6months are not eligible to undertake any prison programs). Walkington also gave some insights into the culture of the Prisoner Review Board and the lack of hope this attitude has spread throughout prison populations of inmates and workers. Walkington referenced the effect of the state government creating more punitive laws leading to higher rates of imprisonment but they then failed to also adjust the funding to cater for this increase and strain on the prison system.

Hall and Arathun continued to entertain the audience with their soulful and calming dynamic for a few more songs before Hart introduced the next set of speakers.

The next speakers were Roslyn Carnes and Vicky Bandry from the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA. Carnes is a Phd candidate completing study on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Prisoner Education and gave some statistics on the breakdown of persons incarcerated in this state, with a shocking percentage of Indigenous Australians over-represented in the prison system. Carnes also explained the difference between the design capacity of prisons and the operational capacity – Carnes referenced the recent comment by the Attorney-General following the Officer of the Inspector of Custodial Services’ report into Bunbury Regional Prison and overcrowding – Christian Porter commented that the prison is operating “under capacity”. Carnes made the point that the operational capacity is purely the amount of mattresses able to be crammed into the prison, not design capacity which is in fact, the amount of people the prison is designed to hold at a safe level. Vicky Bandry provided more of a personal account of the effects imprisonment has had on family members and for example the derogation that can occur within the prison – prisoners having to call officers “Sir” or “Madam” and living in fear of some officers who are power hungry and forget that everyone there is a person.

Lois Olney was scheduled but unable to perform due to family commitments, but Dave Johnson took her place this evening. Dave explained his role as a music teacher through the “Australian Children’s Music Foundation”:www.acmf.com.au where he goes into Banksia Hill and Rangeview Detention Centres teaching detained youth music skills. He played many songs written by teenagers he had taught and gave background stories to each which was quite touching. He ended his set with an upbeat blues love song which added some pizzazz to his set.

The next speaker was Tammy Solonec who is the Director of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. Solonec presented an alternative model to what is in many ways a non-functioning criminal justice system in Western Australia, considering for example the recidivism rates of many offenders. Solonec discussed the “Justice Reinvestment Model” which is a systematic approach to crime prevention, by looking at research and statistics of where are high crime areas and focussing in on these areas to provide programs to reduce offending before it can happen. Solonec presented a well formulated and articulated argument against the current punitive model of punishment and gave plenty of reasoning for why the model of justice reinvestment should be given more attention than currently it has been on the State Level. Unfortunately the political game of each party trying to be the “toughest on crime” is playing out and may continue to do so until concerned citizens begin to express their dissatisfaction with the workings of our criminal justice system. Solonec encouraged audience members to engage with the “Deaths in Custody Watch Committee”:http://deathsincustody.org.au ; to write letters to our local MPs and to write letters to the editor also.

The final musical act was Dave and Bec Mann who were just an absolutely beautiful end to the evening. But it wasn’t just the two of them, another member was playing the violin, and Bec Mann was holding baby Mann who woke up just at the second last song. It was a casual set with the Manns ready and able to keep playing as long as the audience were willing to listen. Their harmonies combined with the haunting tones of the violin were a bittersweet combination. Somewhat like the tone of the evening: everyone in the room was looking honestly at the issues at hand, but also very hopeful and willing to work towards change.