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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-08 Daily Xml
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CHILDREN IN STATE CARE INQUIRY

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Stuart.

There being a disturbance in the Speaker's gallery:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I can understand the enthusiasm but applause is not permitted in the gallery.

The Hon. G.M. GUNN (Stuart) (15:26): It is not often that I get applause like that when I rise to speak. I acknowledge the gallery and thank those there profusely. Perhaps by the time I have finished speaking, they might not feel in a similar vein! The first matter I wish to raise is along lines similar to those of the member for Morphett's speech. As someone who has visited the Pitjantjatjara lands for a considerable number of years, and who has been concerned about the welfare of the communities living there (in particular, the young people), I am concerned that, following the report of Commissioner Mullighan, we move on and create opportunities and implement a range of policies and actions that will solve some of the problems.

We can have talkfests, and over the years I have seen lots of those. I well recall making some comments and having some very heated discussions behind the scenes when the Pitjantjatjara land rights legislation went through this parliament. Some of the things I said, unfortunately, have come true, although no-one took any notice at the time. Those in high positions knew better than I did, even though most of them have never had any association with members of the Aboriginal community. I had worked in shearing sheds and spent a considerable amount of my time in the company of Aboriginal people. That sort of knowledge was not accepted by those who were running the agenda.

What have we got? I went to Ernabella a short time ago, and I have to say that I was absolutely disappointed. Ernabella is a very attractive place with a long history of involvement, and I was absolutely disappointed. New houses were being built alongside burnt houses. Ask the member for Goyder what he thought. The old Presbyterian church was burnt out and, as a result, a lot of history was lost. But with all that damage and all the money that has been spent there, at the end of the day what have we achieved to improve the welfare of the current generation, not to mention the next? My concern is to create some opportunities for these people.

There is great potential but, we should not continue down the track of letting trendy lefties and others call the shots, because they have been doing that for too long. I could give you chapter and verse about some of the things that have been done to my colleagues and me when we have gone there—I, in my capacity as the local member—when we were deliberately excluded from talking to the people. They made it as difficult as they possibly could for us. We were left at the airport and all sorts of things happened, and that was done deliberately.

I remember that, on one occasion when I was at Umuwa some years ago, I wanted to have a discussion with the management and two or three of the senior people knocked on the door and said they wanted to see me. The person in charge there tried to get rid of me. Fortunately, I heard what they had to say and I said, 'Yes, certainly. I will finish talking to these people and I will come out to wherever you want to see me and we will sit down and talk for as long as you want'. The interesting thing was that, in the discussions I had with those people, I agreed with every one of the suggestions they made, because I thought they were sensible and would achieve something. But, of course, in the trend of those who know best, and with the people who have been involved in assisting those communities not being pro-development or wanting to encourage mining and tourism, it has been a closed shop. If you have a closed shop, you have the potential to let criminals and villains get into the place.

Those roads should be available to members of the community to drive on. I am not talking about people's homes. It is the same as driving through Whyalla, Streaky Bay or Port Augusta. If you close them off, you create the ability for people to hide their criminal activity. The criminal activity is appalling and they should be brought to justice. Those people who have been affected should get justice, and we should be creating opportunities for the next generation, whether it be cattle grazing or in the mining or tourism industries. They have to get a decent education and facilities have to be put there and maintained. They have to be taught how to maintain and manage the facilities, not wreck them, otherwise none of them will have a long-term future.

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