00:01Stop the bill! Stop the bill!
00:05Critics call it the no air in prison bill.
00:08Prisoners aren't second class citizens.
00:10They're just like everyone else and they deserve fresh air just like everyone else.
00:15The Victorian Government's Corrections Amendment Bill makes a prisoner's right to be let out into the open air
00:21subject to staffing and safety, which has angered former prisoners and human rights groups.
00:26We do really need this bill not to be passed because it's wrong. I feel that it's wrong.
00:32It would give more reasons to corrections and for operational reasons to prevent people from getting outside time.
00:40And there's particular concern from a First Nations standpoint.
00:44We are already overrepresented in the Victorian prisons.
00:48In its first intervention on Government policy since Statewide Treaty was passed last year,
00:53The First People's Assembly of Victoria has made a submission to the Government asking that it scrap the bill.
00:59It says it's not in the spirit or intent of treaty.
01:03Legal advocates say the bill is a by-product of a corrections system under increasing pressure.
01:09More restrictive bail laws that have left more strain on the prison system.
01:13The Government says the legal changes allow for operational decisions to ensure access to open air can be managed safely.
01:20But those who have been on the inside are adamant. Daily fresh air is not optional.
01:25It's time away from the prison. You get to go outside, think about things, look at the sun, look at
01:31the sky.
01:31Same sky that other people look at outside those walls.
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