An inmate of an Australian jail is on hunger strike in order to retain possession of a mobile phone he's kept inside his anus for up to a week.

The inmate is believed to be Kon Georgiou, a convicted triple-murderer doing a long stretch inside Goulburn Jail's “Super Max” unit. That facility is reserved for the worst of the worst and therefore supposedly the most secure jail in the Australian state of New South Wales. Mobile phones aren't allowed inside the jail. Penalties apply to inmates found in possession of phones, and those who supply them.

Georgiou's reportedly been subjected to a metal detector test, which spotted something within. He's since been encouraged to let nature take its course, but has resisted any such suggestions.

Shock jock Ray Hadley uncovered the phone - sorry, the phone's existence - and sought comment on the situation from NSW Corrective Services Minister David Elliott, who sent him a statement Hadley read on air, with the following verbiage:

“The first rule of command is never expect your people to do something you're not prepared to do. This includes asking officers to put on a rubber glove and extract a phone from Georgiou 's bum.”

“The prisoner is in isolation in Super Max and is refusing to eat.”

“Frankly, I'm happy for him to rot there until the phone is passed.”

“I don't care if that's in the next hour, the next week, or future.”

“Georgiou is telling Corrective Services it is a piece of metal in his body not a phone. I can assure Mr Georgiou that when he does pass the phone, and we bag the evidence, he will be charged with possessing contraband.”

Jokes about Australians all being convicts welcome. Because they never get old. ®