Alexander Maconochie Centre
Encyclopedia
| Australian Prisons | |
| Alexander Maconochie Centre | |
| Location: | Symonston Symonston, Australian Capital Territory Symonston is a primarily industrial and agricultural suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Symonston is named after Sir Josiah Symon a Legislator, Federalist and one of the Founders of the Constitution of Australia.... , Canberra Canberra Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne... , Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory... |
| Address: | 10400 Monaro Highway, Hume ACT 2620 |
| Status: | Open |
| Classification: | Multi Grade (Minimum to Maximum Security) / Remand / Male & Female |
| Capacity: | 300+ |
| Managed by: | ACT Corrective Services |
The Alexander Maconochie Centre is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n prison and remand centre complex in the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
.
The centre is designed as a multi-role facility to replace the Belconnen
Belconnen
Belconnen is a district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, comprising 25 suburbs with 29,900 dwellings housing 82,247 people of the 311,518 people in the Australian Capital Territory ....
Remand Centre and provide detention facilities so that prisoners who are currently held in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
facilities may be held locally. The prison caters to all security levels and is designed and will be run in accordance with ACT Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
Standards. The idea is to reform prisoners, so that they can return to a normal life after their sentence is over. The centre is named after penal reformer Alexander Maconochie
Alexander Maconochie (penal reformer)
Alexander Maconochie was a Scottish naval officer, geographer, and penal reformer.- Early life :Maconochie was born in Edinburgh on 11 February 1787. He joined the Royal Navy in 1803 and as a midshipman he saw active service in the Napoleonic Wars and was a prisoner of war from 1811 to 1814...
, who worked in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
from 1836 to 1844.
The prison can hold 300 prisoners. It is organised as a campus, with accommodation cottages around a town square that contains common facilities. There is a health building, admissions building, education building, a library and a visiting centre. The prisoners are expected to construct their own gymnasium. It is located on the Monaro Highway
Monaro Highway
The Monaro Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia. The Victorian section was formerly known as the Cann Valley Highway until the 1980s....
in Hume
Hume, Australian Capital Territory
Hume is a suburb of Canberra in the district of Tuggeranong. The suburb is named after the explorer Hamilton Hume and streets are named after Australian industrialists and businessmen. Hume is a light-industrial suburb and there is no significant housing development...
.
History
The prison was officially opened on 11 September 2008 by the Chief Minister of the ACTChief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
, Jon Stanhope
Jon Stanhope
Jonathan Ronald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May 2011 and as...
. It took 22 months to build, the total cost of construction being $131 million. The Police Minister, Simon Corbell
Simon Corbell
Simon Corbell is an Australian politician in the Australian Capital Territory, and is one of the seven members of the Legislative Assembly electorate of Molonglo, representing the Australian Labor Party...
appointed Craig Sams as the first official visitor.
Notable prisoners
The Alexander Maconochie Centre has been home to David EastmanDavid Eastman
David Harold Eastman is a former public servant from Canberra, Australia. In 1995 he was convicted of the murder of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester. On 10 January 1989, Eastman shot Winchester twice in the head at point blank range in the driveway of Winchester's...
since shortly after it was opened; he is serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of Colin Winchester
Colin Winchester
Colin Stanley Winchester APM, was an Assistant Commissioner in the Australian Federal Police . Winchester commanded ACT Police, the community policing component of the AFP Australian Federal Police responsible for the Australian Capital Territory.On 10 January 1989, at about 9:15 pm, he was...
, Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
.
Controversy
The Alexander Maconochie Centre has been the subject of controversy during its planning, construction, and period immediately post opening. A chief criticism related to the facility's large initial cost estimates and even larger final price tag.The central argument by proponents of the facility was that the facility would save the ACT millions of dollars every year because it would not have to pay for prisoners to be held in New South Wales-operated prisons. Based on the current cost of approximately $60,000 per year (per prisoner) that it costs for the ACT to send prisoners interstate, the centre was to pay for itself in fifteen years. However, an increase in the costs of construction and operation of the prison will no doubt mean that the facility will take longer to pay for itself.
The other major controversy was a doubt over whether or not the ACT, with a population of just over 320,000, actually needs its own prison. Based on the assumption that the prison would be in operation in early 2007, it would only be 25% utilised. (The prison did not open until September 2008, and did not become fully operational until early 2009.) Given the expense of staff and operating the prison, some doubted whether it would be any cheaper than the former prison agreement with the New South Wales government.