House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-14 Daily Xml

Contents

Child Protection

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:12): Also, can the minister advise whether any of these random checks that have occurred recently raised any concerns?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:13): I have been out doing some of them myself.

Mr Pisoni: Are you qualified to do that?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I'm the minister.

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned a second time.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, sir. I thought it appropriate that I spend a few nights going out with some of the senior management team to—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I went out with the senior managers who were undertaking these checks during the evening. I thought that was a perfectly appropriate thing to do. Certainly many of the staff are very upset about the circumstances surrounding this Families SA worker. They do a great job, they care very much about these children and I thought it was perfectly appropriate that I would spend a couple of my evenings going out and visiting them.

Mr MARSHALL: That is all very interesting but the question was, have any of these random checks raised any concerns? That was the question. The other part of the answer was very interesting.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I am happy to get information—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I did. The member for Unley once again just sits there and shouts. I wonder if he was the shadow who has been ringing around the other states trawling for information? I wonder whether it was the member for Unley? It would be form, wouldn't it?

The SPEAKER: Not since Churchill at the Siege of Sidney Street have we seen such ministerial intervention. Deputy leader.