PRICE SUPPORTS ON-COUNTRY DIVERSION

Member for Durack Melissa Price MHR

Federal Member for Durack Melissa Price said she supported the State Government’s plan to build a $50 million Kimberley juvenile justice facility on country.

Her comments came after multiple criticisms of youth detention at Banksia Hill.

“We need to treat these young people humanely,” she said. “We want them to be in better shape when they leave than what they were when they went in, and that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

Ms Price said children in youth detention tended to have families in crisis, and more needed to be done to support those families.

“They should be getting the help that they need, to be able to support their young person in their household,” she said. “Whether that is from an education perspective, whether that’s simply putting food on the table, whether that’s making sure where they live is fit for purpose, that we don’t have overcrowding in houses, but also to issues like drug and alcohol abuse and also mental health issues more broadly.”

Ms Price said the Commonwealth invested heavily into mental health, but the States spent most of the money on the programs they ran.