CHILDREN IN STATE CARE APOLOGY

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (11:05): I move:

That this parliament recognises the abuses of some of those who grew up in state care and the impact this has had on their lives. Only those who have been subject to this kind of abuse or neglect will ever be able to fully understand what it means to have experienced these abhorrent acts. For many of these people, governments of any persuasion were not to be trusted. Yet many have overcome this mistrust. You have been listened to and believed and this parliament now commits itself to righting the wrongs of the past. We recognise that the majority of carers have been, and still are, decent, honest people who continue to open their hearts to care for vulnerable children. We thank those South Australians for their compassion and care. We also acknowledge that some have abused the trust placed in them as carers. They have preyed upon our children. We acknowledge those courageous people who opened up their own wounds to ensure that we as a state could know the extent of these abuses. We accept that some children who were placed in the care of the government and church institutions suffered abuse. We accept these children were hurt. We accept that they were hurt through no fault of their own. We acknowledge this truth. We acknowledge that in the past the state has not protected some of its most vulnerable. By this apology we express regret for the pain that has been suffered by so many. To all those who experienced abuse in state care, we are sorry. To those who witnessed these abuses, we are sorry. To those who were not believed, when trying to report those abuses, we are sorry. For the pain shared by loved ones, husband's and wives, partners, brothers and sisters, parents and, importantly, their children, we are sorry. We commit this parliament to be ever vigilant in its pursuit of those who abuse children. And we commit this parliament to help people overcome this, until now, untold chapter in our state's history.

When the Premier tabled the report of the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry in early April, he made a commitment to the people of South Australia that there would be an apology to those who were abused as children in state care. On Tuesday this week the Premier honoured that promise and moved the same motion that I have just moved. That motion was supported in another place by the Leader of the Opposition. Today we stand together to illustrate our commitment not just to acknowledging our past but also to working together to take every reasonable step to ensure our most vulnerable children, those in state care, are protected from sexual abuse.

The findings of the Mullighan inquiry were nothing less than shocking, with 792 people coming forward to the inquiry and saying that they were victims of child sexual abuse. The inquiry determined that 242 of those people were children in state care at the time of their alleged abuse. As previously stated, these children's narratives of their abuse make sickening reading for anyone.

There being a disturbance in the gallery:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable minister will be quieter in the gallery, please.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Victims of abuse bravely came forward to lift the curtain of silence on abuse. These courageous individuals have spoken. Through their actions we now know of these tragedies but also, through the telling of their stories and the way in which those stories have been respected and honoured by Commissioner Mullighan and his team, there has undeniably been significant healing for many of these people. For instance, in his preface to the report the commissioner tells of the family of a woman who gave evidence to the inquiry. The children discussed her evidence the night she gave it and, as one child told the commissioner, 'We had always felt sorry for our mother, now we feel proud of her.'

Today is mainly about that healing process. We need to show these courageous people that the government and the parliament, on behalf of all South Australians, acknowledge what they have been through and say sorry. The fundamental importance of this apology to the survivors of abuse in state care cannot be underestimated.

This apology is not only about acknowledging the past: it must also involve a commitment about the future. We must commit ourselves to doing everything we can to protect children entrusted to the state's care. As evidence of that commitment, the government has this week responded to the recommendations of the inquiry. Further evidence of our commitment to the care and welfare of our children is our recent budget that allocates an extra $190.6 million over four years on keeping children safe. This represents the largest ever investment in protecting children in our state's history and provides the resources to enable us to carry out the inquiry's recommendations, in particular, appropriately placing children in care and better supporting children in care and their carers.

We will also provide additional resources to the Guardian for Children and Young People to strengthen her role and independence as advocate for children in care and monitor of that care. We will expand screening processes in respect of people involved in child-related work and strengthen our child-safe environments. For those children in care who frequently abscond and place themselves at high risk, we will create a specialist team to provide assertive specialised therapeutic services, and we will provide for secure care.

To ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, this government has already committed an extra $2.4 million to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. We will also pilot a scheme to fast track trials involving child complainants of sexual abuse.

The government's response constitutes a comprehensive package to help ensure that the horrific events that Commissioner Mullighan has uncovered do not recur. This is an important commitment to those who had the courage to speak out to Commissioner Mullighan. We have also accepted those recommendations aimed not so much at prevention but at healing. We will provide free counselling and support services for those who were sexually abused while children in state care. We will, as Commissioner Mullighan recommended, establish a task force to closely examine redress schemes and recommend the most appropriate model. And we will apologise to the victims of abuse in care.

In moving this apology, I want to acknowledge that nothing any of us say here today will take back that pain that these children have carried into their adult life. Nothing that we will say will be able to change the past actions and the past abuse that was experienced by some of those who were placed in state care. There is nothing to change the fact that people stood by and failed to act to prevent these tragedies from happening. But to say to the survivors of sexual abuse in state care that we believe them, that we understand the hurt done to them, that we accept our past failings, and that we are sorry is a powerful step forward. Today's apology is for all of those in state care—to those who are with us, those who are far away, and those who, sadly, are no longer with us. On behalf of this parliament and previous parliaments, I offer you this apology:

This parliament recognises the abuses of some of those who grew up in state care and the impact this has had on their life. Only those who have been subject to this kind of abuse or neglect will ever be able to fully understand what it means to have experienced these abhorrent acts. For many of these people, governments of any persuasion were not to be trusted, yet many have overcome this mistrust. You have been listened to and believed, and this parliament now commits itself to righting the wrongs of the past.

We recognise that the majority of carers have been and still are decent, honourable people who continue to open their hearts to care for vulnerable children. We thank those South Australians for their compassion and care. We also acknowledge that some have abused the trust placed in them as carers. They have preyed upon our children.

We acknowledge those courageous people who opened up their own wounds to ensure that we as a state could know the extent of these abuses. We accept that some children who were placed in the care of government and church institutions suffered abuse. We accept these children were hurt. We accept they were hurt through no fault of their own. We acknowledge this truth. We acknowledge that in the past the state has not protected some of its most vulnerable. By this apology, we express regret for the pain that has been suffered by so many.

To all those who experienced abuse in state care, we are sorry. To those who witnessed these abuses, we are sorry. To those who were not believed when trying to report these abuses, we are sorry. For the pain shared by loved ones, husbands and wives, partners, brothers and sisters, parents and, importantly, their children, we are sorry. We commit this parliament to be ever vigilant in its pursuit of those who abuse children, and we commit this parliament to help people overcome this until now untold chapter in our state's history.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (11:13): I rise on behalf of the Liberal opposition to speak in support of the motion apologising to children in state care. The recognition of acts of abuse and neglect to children in state care is relatively recent. Decades of abuse not only left scarred survivors, many of whom are now in their 40s, 50s or 60s, but also claimed many victims.

For many years, these abhorrent acts went unspoken, or voices were muffled or not believed. Whether governments of the past turned away when faced with the sheer social embarrassment of these happenings, or whether it was simply that they were not prepared to provide for a change, they turned their backs on abused children. We as a parliament have a responsibility to rectify, as much as possible, the ignorance and inaction of the past.

For around 16 years, society has grappled with the truth about children in state care. It seemed that no matter how confronting and rife the evidence, there was a refusal to admit responsibility for these injustices. As more and more victims came forward to churches, welfare groups, state officials and the media, victims and their families exposed themselves to a new level of vulnerability, with the risk that inaction would continue—and it did for many years.

I take this opportunity to join the Leader of the Opposition in another place in thanking the Hon. Rob Kerin for his tireless battle in arguing the case for a state inquiry. I thank also the soon to be retired member of this place, the Hon. Andrew Evans, who successfully moved for the lifting of the immunity from prosecution of pre-1982 sexual offenders, as well as thanking the parliament of 2004 for initiating the inquiry undertaken by Ted Mullighan which culminated in his recently completed report.

The inquiry took evidence from some 792 people and detailed 826 allegations involving 922 perpetrators. Mr Mullighan took evidence for which, with his well versed career as a judicial officer and his acquaintance with human experiences over such a wide spectrum, he said he could never have been prepared. Compare his experiences with that of a five or 10 year old child being separated from their family and forced into unfamiliar surroundings only to be abused and silenced by those who were entrusted to care for them.

Most adults would not in their lifetime even witness some of the things which Ted Mullighan has been exposed to throughout his career as a practitioner and judge. These children were the subject of many of the most extreme cases of abuse both physically and mentally. Now there is no excuse for inaction.

Acceptance of the Mulligan inquiry means a commitment to children currently in state care and those who will be in state care in the future. Today we have an obligation not only to apologise to the victims and the witnesses of abuse but also to thank them for having the courage to come forward and expose the truth.

We apologise to the parents whose children we were entrusted to care for but in many cases failed, and to the friends of victims who have had to witness their loved ones battling with demons since a young age. They have taken a great deal of this burden upon their own shoulders.

I commend the work of Commissioner Mullighan and his team. They will carry a huge emotional burden as a result of their work, and for that we thank them. We also thank the Police Paedophile Taskforce for its investigations. As a society we have confronted many stark realities and grave mistakes over the past 16 years. We have admitted truths which we refused to believe because of shame.

Although we apologise today, we will never absolve ourselves of the events of the past. We must make a commitment to the future. The opposition joins the government in offering an apology on behalf of past parliaments and governments and those of today. In doing so, we cement our commitment as a state to all children.

The Hon. M. PARNELL (11:16): On behalf of the Greens, I wish to add my apology to all those who have suffered abuse in state care or otherwise been victims of our failure as a society to protect our children. Whilst the whole subject of abuse and betrayal of trust is a tragedy, one of the greatest tragedies is the fact that, for many years, the victims were simply not believed. It has taken great courage on the part of many people to persist in telling their stories and not be defeated by the failure of governments or society to properly listen and hear what they were saying.

I particularly want to acknowledge the contribution of one victim of institutional neglect who has had the courage and perseverance to fight for justice and recognition for all victims and that is Ki Meekins. Ki will be familiar to many members as one of the public faces of the campaign. He was in this parliament when the apology was first delivered by the Premier, and he featured on many of the evening news bulletins.

I first met Ki about 15 years ago but only recently re-established contact. Quite fittingly, it was when he came up to me as we both stood in Elder Park and watched the apology to the Stolen Generations on the big-screen broadcast from Canberra. It struck me then that there was more than one apology that was long overdue.

When I first met Ki, about 15 years ago, he was homeless, jobless and in a pretty bad way. My sister-in-law took him into her family, and he lived with them for a short period. I can remember meeting Ki and hearing his stories of abuse at the hands of carers as a ward of the state. He also told of influential people in public life in South Australia who were paedophiles and preyed on vulnerable children.

I had to admit that Ki's stories were difficult to believe, because they challenged the view that most of us have about the basic and fundamental decency of our society. The idea of systematic abuse and the involvement of influential people and government agencies is not one that is easily accepted. I recall that my emotional reaction at the time was, 'This is terrible. If these things really happened, then there should be a high-level inquiry. People have to be brought to account.'

Ultimately, and to his credit, Ki and other victims did not give up and, as a result, we have had the Mullighan inquiry; there will be criminal prosecutions; there should be compensation; and this parliament, representing the people of this state, has said that it is sorry.

A month or so ago I was pleased to attend the launch of Ki Meekins' book entitled Red Tape Rape, and I got to hear more about the long journey that Ki and other victims have gone through to get recognition for what they have been through. I acknowledge that the Hon. Ann Bressington was also at the book launch.

As tempting as it might be to go though his story in great detail, I will just read a couple of sentences. The blurb on the back of the book states it pretty succinctly:

Ki became a state ward when he was 'arrested' at the age of six months and placed into the 'care' of the South Australian government.

The abuse that he had to endure as a child was brutal.

He was raped by a foster carer when he was 10 years old, but when he reported the incident he was threatened with retribution from government authorities. Ki was regularly 'picked up' from government institutions by paedophiles for weekend 'outings'. Many state wards, some as young as 10, were drugged and raped repeatedly.

They were known as the 'takeaway' children.

At 13, Ki was kidnapped and taken to Queensland to be abused by a well known TV personality. For three months Ki was constantly sexually abused. The South Australia Police knew that Ki was in Queensland with his abuser but were not particularly worried because 'he [the abuser] was due back soon to face charges of bank robbery'.

Ki then ran away to Sydney and fell into the dark side of the thriving 'boy prostitute' racket in the notorious Kings Cross.

Ki's story is more than the shocking reality of child abuse. This book reveals Ki's inner strength. It tells how Ki spent seven years trying to get justice from the South Australian Government through the court system, and of his passionate pursuit to make governments accountable for their sins of the past and to ensure the heinous crimes he experienced as a child will never happen again.

The book, whilst full of terrible stories, does have an element of hope in it and, in a chapter entitled 'Adelaide will be rocked', he says the following:

When I began my crusade for justice for my fellow abused state wards I never dreamed of the impact that would follow. The 'Pandora's Box' of Adelaide's secrets are being exposed one by one. The criminals hidden amongst the leafy suburbs of the 'City of Churches' are being caught in the spotlight of the Inquiry.

The paedophile networks are collapsing under the pressure of a motivated and skilled police force hell bent on cleaning up the dark past of a city blighted with sex murders and child abuse, a city that felt comfortable ignoring the criminal behaviour of some of its 'finest' sons.

So, even in this tale of despair, Ki is holding out hope that as a society we are dealing with this problem. To conclude, one of the quotes that Ki has in his book is from Albert Einstein, and I think it sums it up very well. Einstein said:

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (11:22): This poem, called 'Letters from our parents', is written by my friend Jeannie, and it is in the book, Every Childhood Lasts a Lifetime:

They didn't send us letters

directly,

they couldn't.

The letters we received

had the address blacked out,

destroyed

like the lives of children

taken in the black of night

crying,

fearful.

Taken

from parents,

transported,

processed,

numbered.

How many?

Black children.

White children

waited

for letters

for words,

from parents

in the black of night

crying,

fearful,

alone.

Taken

in the black of night,

by the government.

I am pleased to support this apology, and I am particularly pleased that it does not refer specifically to sexual abuse. When this inquiry was set up, and when the legislation was passed in 2005, the Democrats fought very hard to have other forms of abuse included; however, we were unsuccessful. I guess that, had we been successful, the inquiry would still be going on.

There are all sorts of forms of abuse, and I am going to use Jeannie's story as the basis to talk about the various types. Jeannie was picked up by police, who came to her home, about 600 kilometres from Adelaide, in the dead of night. She was seven and, with her nine year old sister and her brothers, aged three and five, she was put in the back of a paddy wagon and taken to Adelaide.

Think how that would feel as young children: police only come when you have done something wrong. They put those children in the back of a paddy wagon and carted them to Adelaide. That in itself has to be a form of abuse. The next abuse was that the children were charged. That was the way it was back then: all children were charged, never the parents. The children were charged with being neglected and under unfit guardianship.

Can you imagine the next morning? These four children, aged three, five, seven and nine, appeared before a magistrate, who said, 'You are charged with being neglected and under unfit guardianship.' Can you imagine a three year old saying, 'Guilty, your honour'? That was the way it was: those children were charged and found guilty.

The authorities then went about systematically breaking up those families, and that was what happened in Jeannie's case. Initially, they were kept together in one place. Their hair was completely shaved off, and they were deloused. For the first few days or weeks (I am not quite clear how long) they were put in separate sections at Seaforth Children's Home. The younger ones were isolated from the older ones and the boys were isolated from the girls. She says:

At meal times, we saw them from a distance if a concertina partition was opened between the schoolgirls' and toddlers' dining room. The boys would hold up their arms and cry out for us but we were prevented from going to comfort them and they were made to stand with their faces to the wall until they stopped crying.

This was another form of abuse, and yet another was the way information was hidden from the children. As I read out in the poem, the children had parts of the letters blacked out. They did not know how many times their parents had tried to see them. Jeannie's mother died three years later of an overdose, which happened one week after her mother was denied access. She asked to have the children with her for Christmas Day, but she was denied access.

Jeannie did not know that her mother had died, however, because she was in hospital having an eye operation. They would not tell her because they did not want her to cry as it could have upset the result of the eye operation. She was never even taken to see her mother's grave. Like others, Jeannie suffered sexual abuse; however, it was not bad, but I will still tell you about it. Of a foster placement when she was 13, she says:

The family had their grandfather living with them. He used to smoke roll your own cigarettes and let them hang from his mouth and dribble into them constantly. At night I would wake with his smelly prickly face kissing me on the mouth. It was disgusting. I ran away from there. When I turned myself in to the police I was interrogated at police headquarters in a small room and left alone for hours before I was taken then to the Windana juvenile lockup. This foster home received numerous teenage girls one after the other despite all of them running away. I met with some of these girls at the Allambie and Davenport teenage girls homes. All of them had stories of sexual and psychological abuse more horrific than I had endured. I count myself lucky.

She talks a little about the juvenile lock-up at Windana, where she was sent a number of times. She says:

I hadn't committed any crimes and hadn't been taken to court charged with any offence. It was routine punishment to send us to the lockup when we became 'uncontrollable'. It didn't make us any more controllable. It made us wilder and angrier. We would be kept in the lockup until we became compliant. A lot of girls could never settle down again at school after being locked up.

I suppose the next significant thing that happened was that her father died. He died in police custody after injuries received while he was in custody. Again, indicative of the sort of bureaucratic abuse that went on, the children, because of a bureaucratic stuff-up, were not even invited to the funeral. His death certificate states that there was no next of kin. What sort of abuse is that—to say that those children did not even exist?

I have said that Jeannie acknowledges that she did not get a bad lot compared with some other children in care. I am pleased that this motion states, 'We acknowledge those courageous people who opened up their own wounds to ensure that we as a state could know the extent of those abuses.' Jeannie is one of them. There are a lot of them, and I think we have to acknowledge the extraordinary courage that it takes for them. I believe that this is a very timely and appropriate motion, and I want to add my apology and that of my party.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (11:30): I rise on behalf Family First to support the motion and join with other members of this chamber in expressing a sincere 'Sorry' to victims of abuse over many, many years. 'Sorry' is indeed a powerful word. Too much debate in this country is centred on what that word means and what consequences follow from saying it. However, I think every person knows when it is appropriate to say sorry for something that has happened, as does every government and, indeed, every parliament. I am very pleased to see that this parliament has taken the steps that it has taken today.

Family First is profoundly sorry to the victims of the traumatic life-changing experience that was sexual abuse—as well as other abuse—in institutions in South Australia in the past. A dark cloud indeed has fallen upon our state's heritage and history in this regard, and for that, indeed, we are sorry.

I will not labour the point which we have made several times before and which other members have touched on this morning about the Hon. Andrew Evans opening the doorway for this abuse to be uncovered via his bill to remove the statute of limitations for offences occurring prior to 1 December 1982. I think the state will be forever grateful for that initiative.

Family First's sorrow about this issue is heightened by the way in which it flows through to all manner of other social problems that we are seeing today. Indeed, institutions from parliament and government to community organisations, I believe, have lost the trust of people today in many ways. I believe that this abuse plays no small part in that, as those abused become parents or grandparents. Without speaking of the abuse openly, in many cases, they have taught their families to be wary of these institutions and, in some cases, with good reason.

We have serious mental health problems in this state as well, and I wonder how much of that can be traced back to sexual abuse, made worse in many cases by the double blow of victims being told that they had imagined the abuse or would never be believed. Such trauma would be very difficult to recover from at all. Further, we have a broad range of problems with sexual health and attitudes that I suspect arise, in some part, due to the unwanted, strange and difficult sexual experiences that children have experienced as a result of these events.

I could go on, but I want to move on to pose a few questions for us all to consider soberly. First, it is a fact that Commissioner Mullighan had to turn away a great number of people who wanted to give evidence but who did not meet the terms of reference for this inquiry. In other words, despite the massive cost of the inquiry, there remains at least the same cost again in exploring the sexual abuse that occurred outside the parameters of that inquiry. I might add that this is a cost well worth spending.

Constituents have contacted us criticising the narrow scope of the inquiry. I suppose, to be fair, it is inevitable that some people feel this way, and the government would probably say it needed to have parameters to its inquiry, otherwise it could never actually deliver any findings, and we certainly are sympathetic to that view. Family First is profoundly sorry for all abuse that occurred in this state, whether within or outside the parameters of the Mullighan inquiry.

Another sobering thought is that we now face a looming issue in bringing to justice—that is, policing, prosecuting and imprisoning—in some cases very aged persons who committed these crimes many years ago. There is also a fear, as a number of victims have voiced to us, of cover-ups and other conspiracies as they speculate how 'high up' the abuse goes. This parliament must seriously ask the question of how high up sexual abuse goes and then fearlessly deal with the perpetrators, for any less action is not acceptable. That is a very sobering task indeed but one that Family First—and I am sure many other members of this chamber—is ready to tackle head on.

I want to congratulate the churches in particular that jointly signed the apology. The churches have suffered a great deal of embarrassment and conviction about the issue of sexual abuse and, in many cases, that is deserved. I congratulate them for the steps they have taken to ensure that this will not be repeated.

Another sobering challenge that is made clear by this situation is the very real need to strengthen families. In most cases, children came to be wards of the state due to family breakdown, and that is how they were able to be victims of abuse in the first place. The stronger we can make marriages, uphold marriage and create these safe social units called families that are the bedrock of a healthy society, the sooner, I believe, we will stem the alarmingly growing number of children coming under the care of the Minister for Families and Communities.

If I may, I would like to conclude on the most important consideration of all, and that is the protection of children. I will quote from the Bible, in Luke chapter 18, verse 16, where Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.' I suspect that, in the past, people of good faith entrusted their children to the servants of the church, innocently believing they were obeying this verse. However, I think the lesson is that there is a deeper principle here. We are in a state of innocence lost. Let us hope that, in response to this tragedy in the state's history, we do a much better job of protecting the children entrusted into our care. I believe that, in doing this, we do more for our state's future than any other economic, environmental, social or other type of measure.

With those words, I indicate Family First's wholehearted support for the motion and reiterate that we are indeed very sorry for the terrible harm that has been done by various institutions to the most vulnerable people in our state.

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (11:36): I also support this motion, and I congratulate the government on taking the steps necessary to support and fund the Mullighan inquiry, giving these people who have been harmed in the past a voice, and have them, I guess, vindicated in their claims of abuse and neglect that they suffered at the hands of state care.

I too was at the launch of Ki Meekins' book, Red Tape Rape: The Story of Ki Meekins, as was the Hon. Mark Parnell. Over the past two years, through Ki, I have come to meet many of the victims of abuse and I have seen how some of them have been able to work through their trauma and pull their lives together. I have also seen some who simply will never do that. I wonder whether the apology that we are offering in this place today and in the other place yesterday is actually enough, and I am not talking about compensation here: I am talking about people who need to be supported for a very long time to be able to reconcile the past, move on and create a better future for themselves.

I am also concerned that as a member of parliament I am still hearing stories of children being removed from loving families, children being separated and families being broken apart, children making claims of being abused in care, and even now (today) they are still not being believed. Some grandparents of these children are not being believed, either.

We now have another situation where many foster carers are now being falsely accused of abusing children in care. This is not a blame game. This is about us, as a parliament, our ministers and their departments recognising that it is one thing to identify that things like this have happened in the past, it is another thing to reconcile that in our own minds; and recognising also the way that we do things and making a solid commitment to do them differently and to do them better. I am not saying that improvements have not been made, or that changes have not been made.

I guess—the impatient person that I am and the stories that I am still hearing—I feel that it is not happening fast enough. I fear that in 20 years' time we will be having another Mullighan inquiry because we were too slow to admit that what we are doing right now is simply not good enough. We should be mindful of the need to take advice from people outside the bureaucratic circle, ascertaining what needs to happen, what needs to change, and implementing those changes as soon as possible—and this may sound naive—regardless of the cost; otherwise we will have yet another generation of broken children, parents and grandparents.

I do commend the government. I know that the victims of this part of our history are grateful that they have been heard and vindicated. I beg the government now to put in place the changes that are needed to prevent this situation from going on any further.

Motion carried.