00:00Well, it's been a really sombre yet passionate atmosphere down at this protest here this
00:06afternoon in Perth.
00:08It kicked off just after midday, yet people are still here several hours later with key
00:12speakers still speaking.
00:14Now, there's been cardboard signs that lots of protesters have been holding up, ones reading
00:19close Unit 18 now and build communities, not prisons.
00:24The sees of cardboard signs can be seen as people have just really been standing there
00:28nodding and really just taking it in, listening to these key speakers and really calling for
00:33the immediate closure of Unit 18.
00:35Now, some of the key speakers include Stuart Dodd, the grandfather of 16-year-old Cleveland
00:41Dodd who fatally self-harmed inside Unit 18 in October last year, recording WA's first
00:47juvenile death in custody.
00:49He really spoke of the grief that this family has gone through over the last year and especially
00:55coming up to the anniversary of Cleveland's death just next month.
01:00Another key speaker was Jerry Giorgiotto, a social justice advocate.
01:05Now, he was really fired up and really passionate speaking to the crowd, in particular criticising
01:11the WA government in the way that it has managed youth detention in Western Australia.
01:16He said that it breaks his soul that we've now recorded two deaths in custody.
01:20The second juvenile death in custody was just late last month in August, a 17-year-old
01:25boy fatally self-harmed inside Banksia Hill Detention Centre, which is of course separate
01:30to Unit 18, however that boy had spent time inside Unit 18.
01:35Jerry also said the government is the face of We Don't Care and he really shouted that
01:40into the crowd and was met with lots of applause and people shouting back to close Unit 18.
01:47Now, Unit 18 was set up in mid-2022 in a hurry, after which the government said it was a particularly
01:55destructive group and a destructive cohort.
01:57They described them as particularly difficult.
01:59They set up Unit 18 because of this cohort at Banksia Hill Detention Centre and there
02:05has been many issues inside Unit 18 as a result, of course, marked by the death of Cleveland's
02:12death.
02:13However, we've also heard from a mother here today who spoke about her son who's currently
02:16inside Unit 18 and some of the treatment that he has experienced as well.
02:21Now, people here want Unit 18 to be shut down immediately and that's what they're calling
02:26for.
02:27The government last year in November confirmed it was looking into and would build a facility
02:31next to Banksia Hill Detention Centre as a way to close down Unit 18 and have an area
02:37that could house some of that more difficult cohort, however they didn't give a timeline.
02:42Now, they have confirmed a business case for this new facility and we did hear today that
02:47they have confirmed that it could take more than five years to build that facility and
02:51shut down Unit 18 as a result, which is obviously not the answer those advocating and calling
02:57for here today at this protest wanted to hear.
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