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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-29 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

SCHOOL VIOLENCE AND BULLYING

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:14): During question time today the Leader of the Opposition asked the education minister a series of questions about the latest bashing in a school in South Australia. I want to take this opportunity to remind the house about the promises that have been continually made by this government about dealing with violence in schools. Simply, if we go back to 2007, there is a list of disturbances and violent instances that have happened at schools. I have a quick summary that I would like to inform the house about.

In May 2007 a northern suburbs school was put into lockdown after a student bashed teachers and students and damaged school property. In May 2008 three girls were arrested at Salisbury High School after bashing three other girls. One of the victims was taken to hospital with minor injuries. From June to August 2008 The Advertiser reported a bashing at Evanston, filmed on mobile phones; a bashing at Kadina, filmed on mobile phones; a bashing Salisbury High School; a bashing at Parafield High School; and a stabbing at Golden Grove High School. In August 2008, The Advertiser reported that a student was forced to change schools after being bitten by another student. In April 2009, a disabled student at Mount Barker school was dressed in a fluoro vest and sent to a fenced-off playground and locked in a room to avoid being bullied.

In May 2009, a student was stabbed at Fremont-Elizabeth City High School. On 11 July 2010, The Advertiser reported Chloe Hill as suffering severe bruising at Airedale Primary in Port Pirie. In January 2010, a Vale Park mother described how her son became depressed after he was repeatedly bullied at school. In one incident, she told how another student strangled her year 3 son. In September last year, a boy was hanged at Para Hills High School and, in February 2011, an autistic boy from Craigmore High School was viciously attacked in the schoolyard, which missed the latest report because after all of these reports there is a media response from the government.

We have heard all sorts of media responses, from previous education ministers and from this education minister, that always referred to a report. I think at one stage we had the Anti-Bullying Coalition. I think the Hon. Jane Lomax-Smith, who was education minister at one stage, blamed Funniest Home Videos for the behaviour in schools, but it was the severe bashing of Marcus at Craigmore High School that led to the former education minister—now the Premier of South Australia—to call for the Cossey report.

What is interesting in some of the findings of the Cossey report is that 10 years ago, under the previous Liberal government, a safer school centre was set up that consisted of DECS staff and seconded police officers. In 2008, Labor cut the funding to this program, and the police then decided that, without the full support of the department and the government, they would withdraw from the program. These are not my words; these are from Bill Cossey, who wrote the report for the minister.

The report also notes that there was no uniform policy or procedure in dealing with bullying and violence in schools and no sense of urgency in reporting these incidents to police or even to parents. In a nutshell, the minister tabled that report, which was completed in May 2011, in the parliament in June 2011 and promised to act for the 2012 school year.

Here we have a situation where not only did the school not contact the police—a key recommendation accepted by this government in the Cossey report—but the minister was told in an email the next day by the father, who did not even receive an acknowledgement letter that the minister had received that email for five days. Only after this incident was reported in the Sunday Mail and discussed on Adelaide talkback radio did the minister participate in the debate, and only yesterday did the minister's office make any attempt to contact the father in this situation.

Leadership comes from the top. It is unreasonable for this minister to expect her school leaders—

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Unley, there is a point of order. Minister.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Madam Speaker, I seek your guidance. I am not sure as to the number of the point of order, but the member for Unley refers to something that is actually not correct. I think he suggested that Mr Miller had not received an acknowledgement to his email, and that is not correct.

The SPEAKER: Minister, you can make a personal explanation afterwards. It is usual practice. Member for Unley, I will give you a few more seconds.

Mr PISONI: First of all, I did not say that. For the minister's benefit, it was five days before her office acknowledged that she had received that email—five days. Leadership comes from the top, and this minister is not providing it.

Time expired.

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