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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-04 Daily Xml
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CHILD PROTECTION INQUIRY

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): My question is to the Premier. As the Premier indicated yesterday that Mr Blewett and Mr Harvey were entitled to expect that the department was handling allegations at the western suburbs school, is he saying that ministerial staff are always entitled to assume departments are handling matters without the need for any follow-up?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:32): No, I am not. What I am doing is relying upon the express findings of Mr Debelle. I know that those opposite are disappointed with some of the findings of Mr Debelle, but his express findings are this: that we were—not only Mr Blewett and Mr Harvey, but we were (the whole office) entitled to assume the matter was being appropriately handled by the agency.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Heysen is warned the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: They can complain as long and as loud as they like, but that was the express finding that was made by Mr Debelle, and he explained his reasons. One of the reasons was the nature of the email itself. It said that somebody had been arrested and removed from a school, parents were being informed and we should rely upon local knowledge; so, the nature of the communication itself. Further, the observation that there was no follow-up briefing about the matter and there were no briefings, even when the relevant minister—in that case, me—was at the very school; not even one briefing to suggest that there was a raging controversy occurring.

Also, what Mr Debelle accepted was the analysis that the chief of staff gave to him in his evidence, and he adopted it expressly in his reasons that he gave for his finding, and that is that, in matters of this sort where there is a large government agency that has expertise, matters of sensitivity, such as police matters, where one would expect that they should be handled without the intrusion by ministerial advisers in operational matters of the state, it was entirely appropriate for us to assume that the matter was being handled appropriately.

I know that there has been some disappointment expressed by those opposite. They were hoping for so much more from the inquiry, but I can say that the parents who have had the opportunity to read this report have found it comprehensive and readable, and they have been urging us to get on with the business of actually implementing these recommendations. That is precisely what we are doing, and we take a further step today.

Mr MARSHALL: Supplementary, sir.

The SPEAKER: Before a supplementary, leader, I call the member for Morialta to order and warn him a first time. I call the member for Davenport to order and I warn the deputy leader for the first and the second time. That will be the deputy leader's final warning. Supplementary, leader.

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