CONVICTED killers, drug traffickers and other inmates are living the high life with roast dinners, trips to the beach on Sundays, flat-screen TVs in private rooms, and unsupervised use of a prison bus.
A former inmate has broken ranks with the criminal underbelly to expose a culture of freedom and fun enjoyed by prisoners at the Innisfail Work Camp.
Scandal shuts Innisfail Work Camp prison farm
The former inmate spoke to The Cairns Post yesterday on the condition of anonymity, fearing retribution from the Far North’s criminal element.
He has spoken of a jail term he described as being better than life on the dole, with prison guards turning a blind eye to mobile phone use, drug taking, pornography and visits from inmate’s girlfriends.
• Roast chicken and Eagle Boys pizza for dinner
• Flat screen TVs with Austar access and DVD players
• Easy access to drugs, pornography and mobile phones
• Unsupervised trips for shopping
• Free time at the beach and waterholes every Sunday
• Unlimited visits from girlfriends
• Regular use of the work camp bus
Prisoners are given up to four hours free time for shopping at Innisfail every Wednesday and regularly taken to idyllic spots such as Etty Bay, Yorkeys Knob and swimming holes at Josephine Falls.
They indulge in Eagle Boys pizza on Monday nights and roast chicken on Sundays, while their airconditioned living quarters are equipped with flat-screen TV, Austar pay TV connection, DVD player, and ensuite bathroom.
Many of the inmates at the work camp, which holds 15 inmates at a time, have been convicted of drug offences but get easy access to marijuana and other illicit substances.
The litany of prisoner freedoms is still being enjoyed despite similar problems at the camp being exposed by The Cairns Post more than 12 months ago.
Prisoners at the work camp before yesterday’s closure included an Aurukun man convicted of killing his wife and a man sent to prison for nine years for a serious assault.
They were sent to Innisfail as a reward for good behaviour while serving out the final months of their sentence at the high-security Lotus Glen prison.
"This is not serving time, this is a joke," the whistleblower, said.
"We can wander around in Innisfail for four hours free time without supervision, we had easy access to mobile phones and pornography and it was easy to get drugs in there because half the blokes were dealers and they had connections in Innisfail.
"Some of us were paid $80 allowance a week for various duties like mowing lawns so with all of the luxuries in there it was better being than on the dole."
The former inmate said the camp was supervised by two guards, who were rarely monitored by their bosses at Lotus Glen prison, near Mareeba.
"Sometimes we’d drive ourselves into Innisfail for shopping and other times the guards would drop us off and wave goodbye," he said.
"I just couldn’t believe this is what jail would be like. There are prisoners lining up at Lotus Glen just busting to get transferred to Innisfail."
The work camp was opened as a temporary halfway house on the northern outskirts of Innisfail after cyclone Larry hit in March 2006.
