Child Protection Department

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (16:20): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Were any of the children charged following an incident which occurred on 23 June at Marion shopping centre under the care of the Department for Child Protection? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TEAGUE: On 23 June, SAPOL arrested two children after an evacuation occurred at Marion shopping centre. A third child was arrested on 24 June. All three children were charged with assault, affray and aggravated robbery.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (16:20): Thank you very much to the member for the question. Can I first of all please say that my thoughts are with the community who were impacted at the time of the incident on 23 June. We have heard many accounts in the media and elsewhere about that impact and how it was for people in the community who were at Marion shopping centre at the time. Also, can I please just place on record that my thoughts are also with the many workers in the Marion shopping centre. It was a really difficult time for them. I know they are being supported by many in our community, by their union, by many other people also. I thank them for their action and their commitment to the safety of members of the community at that difficult time.

As the member has spoken about, there was a really disturbing incident at Marion shopping centre on 23 June. Following that incident, SAPOL, as has been well reported, actively searched for the alleged offenders, alleged people involved in that particular incident and, as we all know, arrests have been made.

The Children and Young People (Safety) Act legislates for the confidentiality of any case-related information, any detail about particular children, so I am not going to comment on a matter that is a subject of a police investigation. That would be wrong for me to do that. It would be utterly wrong for me to do that. I am not going to make comments that run any interference with a police investigation and, potentially, with court matters. It would be inappropriate for me to do so. That is the way I answer this question. It is the right way to answer the question, because we absolutely need to make sure that we don't interfere in the course of a police investigation, nor in court matters. That would be very, very wrong to do that.