THE SAD PASSING OF ROBERT JOSEPH DYSON

Born on 3 May 1940
Passed away on 14 December 2017
Late of MOUNT SHERIDAN
Aged 77 years

I was deeply saddened when I received an email from Shannon Hastie, Bob’s Granddaughter, notifying me of his passing. 

Bob was already a First Class Prison Officer when I joined the Department of Corrective Services in May 1971.  He was a great man and an immense inspiration for me to keep pursuing my career.  

Bob was an Officer who was firm but fair in his dealings with all of those with whom he came into contact.  He did not suffer fools lightly.  He called a spade a spade and you always knew where you stood with him. Just one of his many wonderful qualities.

Bob and I became good friends and my family has visited his home on a number of occasions where we enjoyed the company of his wife Elizabeth and his young children. 

Bob was a man with strict morals and upright intentions. I also enjoyed his company on a number of social occasions.

In the last year or two, we were in constant contact.  He helped me immensely in the writing of my books and shared many stories that my readers will surely remember.  I have often written about Bob under the title of “The Tall Man”. 

You can read many stories about Bob in my books “Cutting the Bars -  Volumes 1, 2 & 3” and “Australia’s Best Prison Stories”.  It was Bob who gave me the information for my chapter on Katingal.  He had been hand selected to work in Australia’s first Supermax Prison at the Long Bay Complex by the then Superintendent John McTaggart.  He worked there from the day it opened until the day it controversially closed.

Following the closure of Katingal, Bob was transferred to the Metropolitan Remand Centre and was later promoted to the illustrious rank of Assistant Superintendent. 

Bob has always been forthright in his opinions in relation to the New South Wales Prison System. He was never afraid to write letters and speak on talk back radio in relation to some of the issues he did not agree with, in fact he kept me well informed of these, and some of my previous blogs are a result of information supplied to me from Bob.

I will miss our telephone calls and emails that we so regularly enjoyed.  Bob was a good, loyal friend and I will cherish every moment we spent together, both working and socially.  

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Liz and their family at this very sad time.  There is no doubt that Liz has not only lost her beloved husband of many years, but also her best friend.

His granddaughter Shannon has set up a memorial site for you to peruse and leave a comment should you wish to do so.  The link to the site is: https://www.heavenaddress.com/Robert-Joseph-Dyson/1780530/

Bob suffered from that insidious disease cancer which took him much too soon.  We will miss you Bob.  Rest in peace old mate.

Peter and Margaret Egge

Funeral service will be held at Chapel of Cairns Crematorium, Foster Road, Mount Sheridan, QLD on Friday, 22nd December 2017 at 11:00 AM. Committal service will be held at Cairns Crematorium, Foster Rd, QLD.

Open letter to the Honourable Robert Borsak MLC

OPEN LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE ROBERT BORSAK MLC, CHAIRMAN OF INQUIRY INTO PARKLEA CORRECTIONAL CENTRE

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO 4 – LEGAL AFFAIRS

The Honourable Robert Borsak,

I worked at Parklea Prison as a Senior Assistant Superintendent from January 1984 until June 1985.  At that time Parklea Prison was a Government run institution.  It was specifically designed for unit management.  The staffing numbers were formulated for unit management and the industries that were set up at the time. 

In relation to your Reference (a) Staffing level:  I bring to your notice that Parklea Prison was opened in late 1983.  Some time following my departure from Parklea, the prison wings were redesigned and the staffing reduced quite dramatically in an effort to cut costs.  This never works.  There have been two major riots at Parklea.

Reference (b) Inflow of contraband:  Following the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons in 1978 by Justice Nagle, the introduction of contact visits opened the floodgates to the flow of contraband into maximum security institutions.  At such visits staffing levels have always been at a minimum and continual surveillance is completely impossible.  Prior to the introduction of contact visits in maximum security institutions, there was always a barrier between the prisoner and the visitor, thus prohibiting the introduction of contraband considerably.  Contrary to popular belief, I do not believe that most contraband is introduced into the prisons by prison officers.  By far the majority of prison officers are true and honest people and are beyond reproach.  Being a prison officer is not a job, but a way of life.  I do concede that on occasions an officer who is either naive or corrupt may have introduced contraband into the prison, but the majority I believe comes through contact visits as well as some being thrown over the walls concealed inside objects such as tennis balls. 

I have a very strong view in relation to Reference (e) Appropriateness of operation of private prisons:  The New South Wales tax payers, through the Australian Government, pay millions of dollars each year to the United Nations to which Australia has been a proud and financial member since its inception.  I believe that private prisons go against the United Nations charter.

The following is an extract from the document entitled Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and related recommendations of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

46     (1)  The prison administration shall provide for the careful selection of every grade of the personnel, since it is on their integrity, humanity, professional capacity and personal suitability for the work that the proper administration of the institutions depends.

(2)  The prison administration shall constantly seek to awaken and maintain in the minds of both the personnel and of the public the conviction that this work is a social service of great importance, and to this end all appropriate means of informing the public should be used.

          (3)   To secure the foregoing ends, personnel shall be appointed on a full-time basis as professional prison officers and have civil service status with security of tenure subject only to good conduct, efficiency and physical fitness”.

My research has shown that this document is still current and in use today.  Please note there is no room in the above document for casual employed prison officers.  I am more than willing to supply more information should you wish me to do so.  You can contact me by email at petertegge@gmail.com

I am unable to comment on Reference (c), (d) and (f).

This I believe

Peter T Egge