CAVAN TRAINING CENTRE

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion a question about the report on the Cavan escape.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Last Friday the minister indicated that he had received an interim report on the Cavan escape but refused to reveal its contents and said, 'When I read the report and make those decisions you'll know.' This approach is consistent with the government's policy not to read reports because once it is in your head you might just blurt it out.

On Friday the minister was also reported as claiming that the Young Offenders Act prevents him from talking about the issues in relation to the escape. Section 63C of the Young Offenders Act 1993 states that a person must not make a report of proceedings which identifies a child or young person. My questions to the minister are:

1. When does the minister expect to receive the final report of the investigation into the Cavan escape?

2. Will the minister commit to publicly releasing the final report, if necessary removing identifying information?

3. Will the minister commit to tabling the final report in parliament, again, if necessary removing identifying information?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for his important question. I need to say at the outset that the honourable member, I think, is incorrect in his interpretation of section 63C of the Young Offenders Act. Again, he is, as a constant from the opposition, misquoting me or only partially quoting me and not doing me the justice that I should be accorded when referring to my comments.

I said in the media, when I was referring to section 63C and my obligations there, that it was not just the names of the young offenders that are of concern in section 63: it is their offending—the matters that are before the court. When you have a publication that talks about the young offender and their offences—those that appear before the court—I believe that is what is captured by section 63C, not just their names and not just the fact that they have escaped from a detention facility.

I understand that the final report will be handed to me on 29 March. I think that is the date I have given previously. I hope honourable members here will understand that any release of such a report that goes to the very intense matters of security of a detention facility should not be released publicly. I have every intention of looking very closely at that report and seeing what information in the report I can release, but I will make that decision on the basis of reading the report; that is what I indicated last Friday.