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Speaker 1: Yesterday, we were contacted by a listener who said there'd

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Speaker 1: been an unprovoked attack on a correctional officer on Tuesday

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Speaker 1: at about lunchtime at the Darwin Correctional Center. The officer

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Speaker 1: was attacked by a prisoner with a set of crutches

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Speaker 1: which were not his own. The correctional officer is now

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Speaker 1: to have surgery on his eye, we are told, very

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Speaker 1: serious surgery. Joining me on the line is Erina Early,

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Speaker 1: the secretary of the United Workers Union. Good morning, Erina,

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Speaker 1: let me try that again. My fault, I think tech issues,

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Speaker 1: but hopefully I've got her. Good morning to you, Erina.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, thank.

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Speaker 1: You so much for your time this morning, Erina. As

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Speaker 1: I said, we were told yesterday we had somebody get

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Speaker 1: in contact with us saying that a correctional officer was

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Speaker 1: seriously injured earlier in the week with a set of crutches.

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Speaker 2: What have you learned, Thanks Katie. That is correct and

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Speaker 2: I've got permission. The officer is David, he said, I

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Speaker 2: was fine to share that with you today, Katie. I

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Speaker 2: spoke to him early this morning. He lost his eye yesterday.

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Speaker 2: It's been removed.

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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Aaron, I'm lost for words. I want

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Speaker 1: to ask how David's going, but I don't even think

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Speaker 1: that's the right question to ask after he's just lost

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Speaker 1: his eye.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, to be honest, Katie, he's a bit shocked. He's

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Speaker 2: in a lot of pain at the moment. It's very

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Speaker 2: difficult to process every everything that is going on, etc.

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Speaker 2: So but yeah, we had a really good chat and

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Speaker 2: I mentioned that I was speaking to you today and

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Speaker 2: that's when he said he was more than happy to

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Speaker 2: share any information with you and territorians.

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Speaker 1: Well, mate, please tell him we're very grateful for that,

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Speaker 1: and my like, my love to him and my thoughts

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Speaker 1: are with him, because that sounds like a terrible situation.

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Speaker 1: Please correct me if I'm wrong, But I'm told he's

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Speaker 1: been a correctional officer for a very long time.

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Speaker 2: Yes, roughly about thirty years.

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Speaker 1: Well thirty years. Is this the first time that he

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Speaker 1: has had something like this happen.

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Speaker 2: Oh, He's had very different degrees of what officers would

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Speaker 2: call assaults, but something like this is the most significant

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Speaker 2: that David's gone through.

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Speaker 1: Can you tell us, I mean, is David happy for

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Speaker 1: you to share what happened?

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Speaker 2: Yes? Yes, So he's passed on some information to me.

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Speaker 2: So basically, what's happening is when prisoners come through, they

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Speaker 2: come through a reception area in corrections, and due to

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Speaker 2: the increase prisoner numbers is they're not being classified. They're

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Speaker 2: not going through the classification system thoroughly yet because they

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Speaker 2: have to move them outside so they can get some exercise, etce.

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Speaker 2: Because the reception area is used for the courts during

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Speaker 2: the day. So what's happening These prisoners are being moved

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Speaker 2: into minimum security without being properly classified. So you're potentially

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Speaker 2: putting dangerous prisoners into a minimum security area. So during

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Speaker 2: that day with David, with that prisoner, he hadn't been

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Speaker 2: properly assessed.

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Speaker 1: Yet, So he hadn't been properly assised. He's somehow grabs

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Speaker 1: someone scratches and very very seriously assaulted David.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and the thing is as well, for safe staffing

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Speaker 2: levels is always meant to be three officers in the

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Speaker 2: minimum security David was the only officer there when the

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Speaker 2: attack happened.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Erona, what like I know that you and

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Speaker 1: I have spoken before about those staffing levels. We've spoken

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Speaker 1: before about safety concerns. I mean, what does David want

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Speaker 1: our listeners and want me to know this morning. When

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Speaker 1: it comes to these very serious worries, The main thing

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Speaker 1: I think David wants to put across is that corrections

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Speaker 1: is in crisis.

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Speaker 2: It is broken, that the classification system was at fault.

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Speaker 2: He should never been placed in this position where he

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Speaker 2: was the only and we shouldn't be putting prisoners through

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Speaker 2: that are not assessed properly because there are huge risks

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Speaker 2: to officers and huge risks to other prisoners as well.

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Speaker 1: Erina, I really appreciate you speaking to us this morning.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate David allowing you to give us that information.

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Speaker 1: Please pass on my thoughts to him. Are our love

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Speaker 1: to him. I don't know what to say, like I

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Speaker 1: really feel for him. To lose your eye as a

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Speaker 1: result of something happening in your workplace is mortifying.

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Speaker 2: Is it absolutely is? As I've always said to you,

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Speaker 2: Katie's officers always worry about if this is going to

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Speaker 2: be the shift. Either they're going to come home, you know, safely,

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Speaker 2: or they're going to come home injured. Unfortunately, David has

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Speaker 2: lost his eye again.

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Speaker 1: Please let him know that we're thinking of him. When

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Speaker 1: he's up to having a chat. I'd be more than

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Speaker 1: happy to have him on the show if he wanted to.

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Speaker 1: But do you think, do you is he I know

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Speaker 1: I was told that he's close to retirement. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if that's correct or not. But do you think

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Speaker 1: he's going to be wanting to go back to his

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Speaker 1: job after this?

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure, Katie, to be honest, I think all

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Speaker 2: of those things factors were going through his head at

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Speaker 2: the moment. Yeah, because as he did say, it's not

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Speaker 2: a safe workplace at the moment, and as you know,

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Speaker 2: we've got the vote of no confidence against Commissioner Vali

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Speaker 2: and he did say to me he generally feels he's

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Speaker 2: been let down by commission by the commissioner because they

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Speaker 2: haven't been providing them a safe workplace.

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Speaker 1: Eron, please let us, let me let us know how

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Speaker 1: he's tracking, you know, keep us up to date. And look,

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Speaker 1: I plan on talking about this tomorrow throughout the week

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Speaker 1: that was as well. I think it's a terrible, terrible

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Speaker 1: situation that he has endured. I'm told that he was

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Speaker 1: that he's a much loved member of the corrections community

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Speaker 1: as a worker, but also that he's very well respected

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Speaker 1: by those prisoners.

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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, yeah.

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Speaker 1: Thank you thank you very much for having a chat

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Speaker 1: with me this morning. Aeron, thank you, you two