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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-29 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS, CHILD ABUSE

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Will the minister advise the house what proportion of children in APY lands communities have been the victim of sexual abuse? On radio this morning, the Premier denied the figure provided by Coordinator-General Brian Gleeson, that up to 75 per cent of children have been the victim of sexual abuse in the APY lands communities. The Premier said:

...that's not the information that we have...I'm not the relevant Minister, I don't have these numbers, what I'm suggesting is that some of those numbers were I think exaggerated—

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you. Point of order, minister.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order: one, leave should be sought to explain; and, secondly, I trust that the member is not quoting a media report.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you. It is in order for the member to quote, and he did seek leave to explain the question, but I think he has explained it enough. Thank you. I think you can sit down now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Point of order: in an earlier question and response from the minister for trade, he quoted extensively from a media article and you allowed it.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. I have just ruled on that. Who was the question to?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education and Child Development. Minister, do you wish to respond to that?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:06): Yes, I do; and I do thank the member for Morialta for this important question. Absolutely the Premier is correct. We do not—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: I do not intend to release child protection figures for any community, whether it be Stonyfell, Munno Para, Mile End, Belair or the APY lands and, like other governments across this country, we do this in order to protect the identity of the children who I have responsibility for. There is also concern that public comments which identify communities may, in fact, jeopardise any ongoing investigation and we recognise the significant problem of people not coming forward about abuse which is why care must be taken with how we debate this in the community. But it was this government that allowed this debate to occur, in particular in relation to what is going on in the APY lands, and I would like to quote the late Ted Mullighan—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to remind people that it was this government, in fact, that established the Mullighan inquiry, which was established in response to concerns that the then minister, now Premier, had. The inquiry uncovered evidence of abuse on the lands and made 46 recommendations. We have accepted 45 out of 46. We have implemented 26 out of 45. In relation to the other 19, we are making significant progress. This is what Commissioner Mullighan said in relation to his work:

There is no quick solution. It will take time, but appropriate plans and strategies must be implemented as a matter of urgency with adequate resources.

And this is precisely what we have done. Commissioner Mullighan acknowledged that he 'heard that sexual abuse of children on the lands has been widespread for many years'. He also pointed out:

Realistically, there are no measures that can be implemented to prevent sexual abuse of children on the lands without addressing the fundamental problems that exist for Anangu and their children.

Commissioner Mullighan also highlights:

The problems on the lands cannot be solved overnight. It will take time to find and implement—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: It continues:

It will take time to find and implement solutions but unnecessary delay must be avoided. Anangu must be empowered and resourced so that they can provide the solutions.

We do take this matter very seriously. I have on many occasions expressed to my colleagues opposite my willingness to work with them in particular in relation to child protection matters. This is very important.

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