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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-31 Daily Xml
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CHILD PROTECTION

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:02): My question is again to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Did the government, via its department or otherwise, threaten to remove the school council members' indemnity if they told parents about the child sex offences that had occurred at the western suburbs primary school?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:03): To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of that, but I will check that. That is the very reason why I have asked for an independent inquiry to take place. There are lots of things that may or may not have happened, 'He said', 'She said', etc. I do not think that is particularly helpful at this point in time. What I think is most important is that we get to the bottom of the differing of opinions. Was the gentleman in question taken away from the children? Yes, he was.

I have a policy of disclosure. We have a policy of disclosure, but we have to make a call on the basis of advice from the experts. In fact, there has been a number of cases where a decision was made to disclose particular incidents to parents. That demonstrates the fact that sensitive situations need a response that reflects those particular circumstances. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what has transpired—that is why I am having an independent review—and that includes the allegations made by the leader in her question. I am very happy to come back to her with an answer in relation to that.

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