New South Wales is going to spend $ 47 million creating a specialist terrorist wing at Goulburn Supermax to house and isolate those convicted of terrorism and prevent them spreading their views in the general prison population. This special 54 bed high security unit will be designed to contain the illicit use of smuggled phones enabling prisoners to maintain contact with sympathisers outside the prison.
There is a lesson to be learned from a similar experience many years ago at Long Bay gaol. A very similar high security unit known as " Katingal " was closed down when an enquiry labelled it an " electronic zoo " that delivered a form of " mental torture ". The purpose of Katingal was to house the worst kind of prisoner and keep them under twenty-four hour surveillance. The lights were permanently on in all cells and prisoners rarely came into contact with one another.
Terrorism is a crime outside of the parameters we have ever previously experienced. Adherence to a particular aspect of a religion convinces some adherents to end their own lives by strapping on an explosive vest and detonating it to kill and main innocent men, women and children who are not followers of that same religious doctrine. Holding them in a prison serves two purposes. It prevents them from carrying out terrorist acts that kill and injure members of the public, and it allows measures to be tried to de-radicalize that urge and return them to a normal state of mind. Whether such conversion can be completely successful is an unknown factor.
No doubt the authorities in other states are debating what to do with similar prisoners. Perhaps this is the time to deal with terrorism on a national basis. We have abolished the death penalty nationally, but we do lock up certain categories of prisoner for life for horrendous crimes. It would be reasonable to declare that terrorism falls into that category. Conviction for even planning a terrorist attack could see the offender serve a life sentence in a Federal prison somewhere in central Australia - with no hope of remission.
No doubt the civil liberties people will be horrified, but this is mass murder. The type of person radicalizing others needs to be removed from society. We need an attitudinal change to accept that those who wish to inflict mass death will pay the penalty of losing their freedom - with no hope of redemption. It will not totally stop this crime, but it will certainly reduce the number of incidents because many will be nabbed before they can carry it out.
It needs to be moved in the Federal sphere to take it out of reach of individual state systems and their susceptibility to civil liberty pressure. Otherwise what is planed for Goulburn may suffer the same fate as Katingal !
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