CPA - The Guardian

Members of the Ward family from the Ngaanyatjarra lands in Western Australia have presented a 5,000-signature petition to the WA Parliament demanding that the WA government implement all the State Coroner’s recommendations over their family member’s death.

The WA Opposition has also introduced a private member’s bill seeking to widen the powers of the Inspector of Custodial Services, a position the WA Attorney-General is apparently keen to adopt.

Ngaanyatjarra Elder Mr Ward died of heat stroke after spending more than four hours in the back of a prison van with no air-conditioning and little water in heat-wave conditions during January last year.

The petition, organised by the WA Deaths in Custody Watch Committee, demands that criminal charges be laid against those responsible for Mr Ward’s death and that the prisoner transfer contract with global security firm G4S, (called GSL at the time), be terminated.

The petition also calls for prisoner transport responsibility to be returned to the WA government and for a public inquiry “into systemic racism in the WA justice system”.

Mr Ward’s cousin, Daisy Ward, said the family demanded that the government act quickly on the petition and the Coroner’s findings. “To do it now, you know like to do the changes, to get rid of the GSL company and to change their rules on how to treat people like people, not like animals,” she said.

Ms Ward said the community in the Ngaanyatjarra lands were still grieving over the loss of their Elder. “Still it can’t go away from us. It’s a life that they took in a careless way. He respected many people. He introduced a lot of government people to Aboriginal people and interpreted for them,” she said.

WA Labor Opposition leader Eric Ripper introduced the private member’s bill into the WA Parliament on September 15 to strengthen the Office of Custodial Services to help ensure the safety of prisoners.

“Those are changes to require the Department of Corrective Services to respond to a Show Cause notice, issued by the Inspector of Custodial Services (IOCS), and changes to ensure that a requirement for humane and dignified treatment of detainees, similar to what’s in legislation to protect detainees under terrorism law, be in all of our custodial legislation,” he said.

WA Attorney-General Christian Porter released a statement on September 16 agreeing that wider powers should be given to the IOCS, and that the government would make a full response to the Coroner’s findings in the next few weeks.

“The state government accepts the Coroner’s legislative recommendations and will go even further by introducing legislation that will require the Inspector to audit a percentage of individual prisoners every year, as well as prison facilities,” he said.

“The tragic death of Mr Ward was the result of an individual human being falling through the cracks of the custodial justice system.

“We intend taking every measure to try to stop this from happening again.”

About 200 people attended the rally on the steps of Parliament House on September 16 to witness the petition being handed to Greens MP Giz Watson for tabling in Parliament.

The Koori Mail

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