The Northern Territory government has announced plans for a new prison that will be built and operated by a private company.
The 1,200-bed men's remand and intake centre and 200-bed women's facility will be built adjacent to the existing Darwin Correctional Precinct (DCP) at Holtze, on Darwin's outskirts.
The correctional facility at Berrimah is set to be closed by the early 2030s.
The government said the men's prison would be delivered under the Public Private Partnership (PPP), whereby the private partner would "design, finance, build, operate and maintain the facility", while the women's facility will be delivered by government as a design and construct tender, and operated by the Department of Corrections.
At a press conference this morning, NT Treasurer Bill Yan said a business case for the privatised prison was completed by Deloitte and will be published as part of the expression of interest process, which will go out to tender over the next week.
"It's very, very important to know that the business case for this has been extremely rigorous and involved information and input from stakeholders, both within corrections and from within industry," he said.
"There will be no cost to the Territory on construction and design — that cost will be borne by the proponent and there'll be no risk to the people of the Northern Territory."
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the corrections system had been neglected for a decade and was unable to keep up with demand.
"There will always be an increase in prisoner numbers and we need to have a correction system that does the job it needs to do," she said.
"What this does for Territorians is mean they do not have any up-front construction or financial risk for this build.
"Territorians would not start paying for the new prison until the day we put prisoners in it."
NT Corrections Minister Gerard Maley said the government had been developing the master plan for corrections over the past two years.
"The decision to invest in a remand and intake centre will mean up to 45 per cent of our prison population moves out of DCP into more appropriate accommodation and services, leaving sentenced prisoners to be managed at DCP and Berrimah to be closed," he said.
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said the new private remand centre would remain under his "custody, control, coordination and direction".
"All Corrections infrastructure, no matter who it is operated by, falls under my remit and responsibility so the community can rest assured that the quality and safeguards are high," Commissioner Varley said.
"This is an opportunity to build a correctional system designed for the future with better infrastructure, better prison management and better outcomes for community safety."
Larrakia Elder Richard Fejo has labelled the government's move as a "bandaid" response that contains "no solutions".
"Evidence has told us ... for decades that imprisoning Aboriginal people has not been the solution, it has never been the solution," Mr Fejo said.
"And even though they built a prison, that prison is now full and so they want to build another prison, and fill that prison.
"To me, it's senseless."
Mr Fejo said during the 1990s he worked with an Aboriginal legal service in the territory, where he often visited Berrimah and Don Dale prisons.
"I've seen what's happened in the incidents of Don Dale and Berrimah, and I've seen them close down and I've seen the new prisons built, but I don't see change," Mr Fejo said.
"Building another prison is not going to bring about that change and it's change we need, it's community-led solutions.
"But this arrogant government is not about that, it says 'we know what's best for the people'."
In 2024, Mr Fejo stepped down from his role as chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation, saying he could not represent the NT government after it passed laws reducing the age of criminal responsibility.
The United Workers Union also condemned the CLP government's plan labelling it "one of the most reckless corrections policy decisions ever proposed in the Northern Territory".
NT Secretary of the union Erina Early said privatising the operation of the men's facility was "not about improving outcomes" but about "allowing private corporations to profit from incarceration".
"A prison is not a commercial opportunity," Ms Early said.
"Every dollar paid out as profit is a dollar not invested in correctional officers, rehabilitation programs, mental health services, prisoner education or community safety."
However, Commissioner Varley said examples in other jurisdictions indicated private prisons "can be part of a sustainable, integrated and effective system".
"I challenge the assumption that the system of privatised prisons in the state does not work," he said.
"We're not making any of the current jobs in the correction system private whatsoever."
The NT government expects the successful proponent to be contracted by the end of 2027, with the rest of the design and construction process expected to take about four years.
