December 2012
A breeding ground for success
More than 150 acres of land surrounding the Junee Correctional Centre is now a vibrant and successful farm with sheep and poultry being bred, vegetables grown and crops such as barley and wheat harvested.
The farm is also supporting the education of five employees and 15 inmates who are undertaking a Certificate III in Agriculture through the local TAFE NSW Riverina Institute.
In August 2011 the farm began with the purchase of three White Suffolk rams, a breed of sheep developed for harsh Australian conditions — especially hot summers and cold winters for which southern New South Wales is renowned.
A few weeks later more than 100 Merino/Dorset cross ewes were purchased as they are the ideal breeding combination for fat lamb production.
Shearing the ewes and rams was undertaken in November and December last year under the supervision of TAFE NSW and utilising the skills of an experienced Junee inmate. This year’s shearing will also be completed in December.
The first lambs were born in July and by mid August 120 were in the paddocks surrounding the correctional centre. Several orphaned lambs were initially cared for on a 24-hour watch by inmates in C Unit.
More than 60 lambs have since been sent to the sale yards with more to follow once they reach the sale weight of 41 to 45 kilograms.
On the poultry front, a breeding program initiated in September 2011 increased numbers to 300. The centre is now harvesting around 50 eggs a day and revenue generated from sales of eggs and chickens to staff and the local community contributes to the maintenance of incubators.
Vegetables were also planted in September last year and despite extremely heavy rains in the crucial growing period, Junee harvested an abundant supply of zucchinis, cucumbers, capsicums, herbs, silverbeets, lettuces, melons and tomatoes.
The vegetables are used in the centre’s kitchen and have added variety to salads and reduced the cost of purchasing frozen vegetables by about $1000 a week.
Work in the market garden includes seedling and plant propagation in hot houses, pruning and maintenance of fruit trees and the preparation and maintenance of the area.
Inmates and staff have also sown 20 acres of barley and five acres of wheat. These crops are maturing and will be harvested in early summer depending on conditions.
Five staff manage the Junee farm with input from more than 28 inmates.
The GEO Group Australia managing director Pieter Bezuidenhout and executive general manager operations Dom Karauria recently attended an Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA) graduation ceremony at Federation Square in Melbourne.
The ceremony celebrated, in part, the graduation of dogs from the Pups in Prison program at Junee Correctional Centre.
Eight assistance dogs were officially handed over to their new owners at the ceremony. Assistance dogs help people with disabilities and each dog takes about 18 months to train.
Either labradors or golden retrievers, the dogs perform tasks for their owners such as pressing the pedestrian button at traffic lights or opening and closing doors. They are also trained to bark an alert or fetch a phone if their owner is faced with an emergency situation. Just as important as the tasks they perform is the companionship assistance dogs provide to their owners.
ADA has placed over 130 dogs with recipients all over Australia and currently has almost 50 pups in training.
Junee Correctional Centre has been involved since 2007 with both staff and inmates playing a role in training the dogs under the guidance of ADA.
Inmates rally for cystic fibrosis
Prisoners at Junee Correctional Centre have repaired and painted an old Holden panel van that has just competed in the 2012 Great Escape rally to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Australia (CFA).
The car, nicknamed ‘Rosie’ and featuring a large red rose on its roof representing the CFA logo, started in third position as GEO had raised the third highest funds.
It is the fourth year that GEO has supported the rally and this year the company entered two cars and raised approximately $20,000 to help fund research into cystic fibrosis and raise awareness of the condition.
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