NSW, Australia
— THE NSW Government has been asked to ban sex
change operations for state prisoners following the
controversy surrounding convicted killer Maddison
Hall.
Christian Democratic
Party MLC Reverend Fred Nile also called for a ban on
male sex change prisoners being transferred to female
prisons after allegations Hall assaulted a female
prisoner at the Mulawa women's prison.
Hall is serving a maximum
22-year sentence for the murder of hitchhiker Lyn
Saunders in 1987.
The Government
unsuccessfully challenged a decision granting her parole
in July, but the parole order later was revoked because
Hall's post-release accommodation became
unavailable.
Hall, who was known as
Noel Crompton Hall before having sex change surgery in
2003, was held at the Mulawa women's prison for eight
months over 1999 and 2000 before being transferred to
Long Bay jail.
In a statement released
tonight, Rev Nile said he had asked Justice Minister Tony
Kelly during question time in parliament to “keep
male sex change prisoners such as Noel Crompton in a
special prison”.
Mr Kelly said Hall would
stay in prison, and the alleged assault had not been
proven.
“Certainly, the
government has not assisted prisoners in any way with sex
change operations in the past and that will continue to
be our policy,” he said, according to a transcript
provided by Rev Nile.
“However, the
government is bound by the provisions of the
Anti-Discrimination Act in terms of where prisoners
should reside obviously, based on the advice of
psychologists and psychiatrists, and that is the case in
relation to Maddison Hall.”
Mr Kelly said he was
keeping a close watch on where prisoners such as Hall
were kept.
