House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-02 Daily Xml

Contents

CHILD PROTECTION

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:19): A supplementary, if I may. Will the Attorney-General then make an application to the court for the alleged offender's identity to be disclosed so that other alleged victims and other information can come forward?

The SPEAKER: Yes, that's a supplementary. Attorney-General.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:20): It is not my practice to go around making applications in respect of suppression orders under section 71A or, indeed, any other suppression order that might be made by a court. That is a matter which is between the courts and those people who have a direct interest in the matter, whoever they may be. In some instances—

Mr Pisoni: Let the courts decide. Make an application.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Hang on. You are asking me the question; I am giving you an answer. In some instances, someone with a direct interest might be a person who has been involved in some of these proceedings, who might consider it's in the public interest to do so. In other instances, it may, for example, be a media outlet that considers it would be in the public interest for these matters to be disclosed. In either of those circumstances, they are entitled to go down there.

It is not, in my view, appropriate for the Attorney-General to be involved in those sorts of matters. The Attorney-General should be removed from those particular activities. There is no interest, in my view, in the Attorney-General doing these things. If others have an interest, they are entitled to make such an application and I would encourage them to do so. Even the member for Unley, if he feels this strongly enough, could wander down to the court, announce himself and make an application.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: If he gets through security.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I think they would let him in.

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Elder to order. Member for Unley.