Legislative Council: Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Contents

Southern Suburbs Incident

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Hon. Michelle Lensink, Minister for Human Services, representing the Minister for Child Protection, the Hon. Rachel Sanderson, some questions.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Last night, Channel 7's 6pm news carried a report about a disturbance on Saturday night at a residence in Adelaide's southern suburbs where a 14th birthday party was being held for one of the occupants. According to the report, the event had been advertised on social media and allegedly invited guests to attend and bring their own alcohol and illicit drugs. Gatecrashers were blamed for a wild brawl that broke out and police attended.

Surprisingly, there were no arrests and no reports about underage alcohol consumption or if there was a presence of drugs. Neighbours reported that it wasn't the first time they had called police complaining about the occupiers of the house and that there are wild parties held there on most weekends. My questions to the Minister for Child Protection are:

1. Has her department been made aware of complaints about the occupants and the potential risk to minors who reside there?

2. What action has been taken to investigate past complaints and the latest incident?

3. Is the property where the incident took place owned by Housing SA?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:34): I thank the honourable member for his question. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch Today Tonight last night—

The Hon. F. Pangallo: The Channel 7 news.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Channel 7 news, I'm sorry. So we will need to review that footage, and I will undertake to make investigations with my department as well as referring the matter to the Minister for Child Protection.