Mr Hall’s comments come a week after Risdon Prison – which is close to capacity - was placed in lockdown for a day due to staff shortages.

In August, there was rioting at the prison.

Mr Hall said that, with high recidivism rates in Tasmania, the chances of crowding being eased at Risdon were slim.

“If, as the Treasurer has said, a second prison could cost as much as $137 million, then a second prison needs considerable time for the investigation, the planning process and construction phases,” Mr Hall said.

“We are approaching the stage when action to cope with excessive prison capacity may be too late.”

A government spokesperson simply reiterated that the possibility of a Northern prison was being “looked into”.

Labor and the Greens have blamed the government’s ‘tough on crime’ policy agenda for the problems in the prison system.

Some of the Liberals’ ‘tough on crime’ policies include the phasing out of suspended sentences and the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences for certain serious crimes.

Indeed, Lyons Liberal MHA Mark Shelton launched a petition on Sunday to “resurrect” a failed bill to impose mandatory minimum sentences for child sex offences.

But Mr Hall noted that, while the community was “demanding” these sorts of harsher penalties, there was now an “alarming situation” emerging where there was “nowhere to jail those who deserve[d] a prison sentence”.