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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-13 Daily Xml
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YOUTH JUSTICE SYSTEM

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise why the government has failed to respond to the 43 unanimous recommendations of the select committee on the youth justice system, which were delivered to the government on 4 July 2005, bearing in mind that three members were Labor members of parliament, including yourself, Mr Speaker?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:59): The positioning of the Liberal Party by the Leader of the Opposition on the question of the Gang of 49 is remarkable. It is positioning that the former leader would not have engaged in. The Liberal approach to the Gang of 49 is all candy and no cane.

Mr WILLIAMS: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker. The question is about the response to a report to the government. It is nothing to do—and it is not within the Attorney-General's purview or responsibility to this house to comment on the Liberal Party.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I do uphold the point of order. The Attorney must answer the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: I have been going through the rehabilitation programs which members of the Gang of 49 are undergoing in youth detention, and I am astonished by the richness and breadth of those rehabilitation programs. For instance, the first offender that I see is undergoing victim awareness training (protective factors), decision making (offending choices), anger management (Violence Group Program), Journey of Healing, speech therapy, Challenging Offending Program—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: You don't want to hear it now?

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The question was about the government's response to a report by a committee of this parliament from three to four years ago, before there was even mention of a Gang of 49. This talk about the Gang of 49—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: —has got nothing to do with the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop will take his seat. It is not for the chair to second guess a minister in answering the question and how they go about answering the question. As long as the minister is answering the substance of the question it is in order. No doubt it will become apparent to the house.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: It will be joined up, sir. This offender is also undergoing one to one literacy and numeracy support at the Education Flexi Centre, and he has completed a Living Skills program.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Yes, that is the transition. Just because offenders who have undergone transition planning and transition programs to freedom from detention then go and reoffend does not mean there was no transition planning or there was no transition program. I am looking at other youth offenders. One has undergone the football program with the Ambassador for Youth Opportunity (Gavin Wanganeen), another goes to the weekly sexual health program group, another is undergoing drug and alcohol counselling and another is doing Cultural Identity—Journey to Respect.

Tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money is being spent on rehabilitation, not just for youth offenders but for adult offenders in our youth detention centres and in our prisons, and the Leader of the Opposition, like Oliver, says, 'We want more, sir, we want more.' The Leader of the Opposition, the parliamentary Liberal Party, does not want to bang these people up: she just wants to hug them. When we had debate on the question of youth parole and on serious youth reoffending, we had the parliamentary Liberal Party—and I am looking at the speaker now—saying that it was a violation of human rights—

Mrs Penfold interjecting:

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Yes, she proclaims herself—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Mr Speaker—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: The Attorney-General is simply debating, again, about the Liberal Party and has not attempted to answer the question that was posed.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Attorney-General must not debate the question.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: The member for Flinders told the house that it was a violation of human rights to put—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: The Attorney-General, sir, is defying your ruling straight up.

The SPEAKER: The Attorney must not debate the question.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: The obligation of the Rann government is to the people of South Australia. The Rann government set up a dedicated inquiry into the so-called Gang of 49 and that resulted in Monsignor Cappo's To Break the Cycle report. That is our reference point for dealing with the Gang of 49. It is not some select committee on which the member for Heysen just happened to serve.

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