Countering Violent Extremism Program

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): Further supplementary to the Minister for Social Inclusion: minister, given the conversations that you've been having, is there any evidence of radicalisation of students in South Australia's education system, given that you're undertaking responsibility for this program, and what steps has the South Australian government taken to deal with that?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:00): Obviously, my engagement has been focused on those multicultural groups, and we continue to work with those groups to understand the motivation. From my other explanations and briefings, South Australia is considered a lower risk state in this area. As we know, we've recently tripled the budget in multicultural affairs, and we've used some of that money to engage widely across the Muslim community.

There are 60 different ethnic groups that form the Muslim community here in South Australia. Many have been here for generations and some are new arrivals. So, part of our valuing cultural diversity, which we consider we have a very bipartisanship view on, we continue to do that. While we will have these different elements in conjunction with the commonwealth, I think it's an overall aspect of welcoming people here in South Australia; and I don't think that it is as significant an issue as it is in the Eastern States.