NSW government announces plans for jail in the city’s south-west which it is reported will house 5,000 prisoners

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The New South Wales government will close Sydney’s Long Bay jail and build a huge prison south-west of Sydney to tackle the bulging inmate population.

The corrections minister, David Elliott, has confirmed that Long Bay, which sits on prime real estate overlooking the sea in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, will be sold and replaced, although the exact site and size of the new jail is unknown.

Inmates squeezed into NSW jails as prisoner numbers hit record high Read more

“Long Bay would not close until the new prison is operational,” Elliott said on Friday.

It would be Australia’s biggest and house up to 5,000 prisoners, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Three sites have reportedly been identified in the Wollondilly area, south of Campbelltown, for the privately built and operated super prison.

However, the NSW spokesman for the Public Service Association criticised the move.

“I don’t see that a privately run prison is in any way in the public interest,” Steve McMahon, a prison officer, told ABC radio. “There’s not a level of transparency that the public deserve.

“The NSW taxpayer will continue to pay for these jails whether they’re privately run or publicly run.”

The jail population in NSW grew to a record high of 11,800 inmates last year, and the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research expects the trend to continue.