Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says that he is shocked and appalled by the mistreatment of children in a Northern Territory youth detention centre.
Footage from the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin shown on Monday nights’ Four Corners program has raised concerns about the conditions and training levels of guards in the centres.
The footage shows children being stripped, assaulted and exposed to tear gas for up to eight minutes.
Speaking on ABC Radio Prime Minister Turnbull says that he intends to establish a Royal Commission
The gassing of six boys, five of whom were locked inside their cells and unable to escape the ten rounds of tear gas that were pumped into the small area, was reported by the Koori Mail and Red Flag in September last year.
The articles reported that, in regards to the gassing incident, the report filed with police was “inaccurate and misleading” and that, contrary to claims made by NT Corrections commissioner Ken Middlebrook, only one child had escaped from their cell.
The report also found there had been “no meaningful attempt by staff to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the incident.”
NT Adam Giles has said he is “shocked and disgusted” by the revelations, but reiterated that the government “does not resile from its tough approach to those who don’t want to respect other people’s property or safety.”
Territory Opposition leader Michael Gunner has already called for a criminal investigation into staff at the detention centre and for youth justice to be moved out of the NT Corrections Department.
Shadow assistant minister for Indigenous affairs and Yawuru man Pat Dodson supports a Royal Commission and has called for the Northern Territory’s attorney general, John Elferink, to be stood aside.
More to come on this story.
