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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-07 Daily Xml
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Minister for Child Protection

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:58): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Can the minister explain her conduct on Friday 15 July last year, including whether she spent more time in her child protection portfolio or her other portfolio work that day? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TEAGUE: On 15 July, emergency services were called to a Munno Para home where a child was found unresponsive and was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital where she died of malnutrition. The remaining five children were removed from their home and this was declared a major crime. That same day, the minister attended a community event for the entire day. That day she also posted to social media that she 'had a great time today meeting with South Australian high schoolers at the SASI talent search'.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:59): A couple of things: again, I find this line of questioning absolutely disgraceful. I wish that the shadow minister was interested in child protection and the serious issues that we contemplate: the fact that one in three children in South Australia is notified to the child protection system at some point in the course of their childhood; the fact that the numbers of children going into care during their time in government grew by around about a thousand by the interconnected issues that families in South Australia are experiencing—domestic violence, mental ill-health, intergenerational trauma, poverty and substance misuse. I wish that he was interested in those issues. Unfortunately, he is not, so I will respond to—

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister—

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: —his question about 15 July. I don't have my diary in front of me, but what I can say is that I have responded repeatedly in this place about the actions, the briefings, etc., that I undertook on hearing about this absolute tragedy. I have repeatedly spoken about exactly what I did, and I have taken a number of steps. We know that there are a number of reviews that have occurred, and we are setting about this in a very strong and decisive way to implementing change—change that we were implementing before those reviews, change that we continue to implement since then. Again, I don't have my diary in front of me, but I do know—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: The 15 July I think is a Friday. If it is a Friday, what I can say is that, in my diary, often on a Friday there will be some time that is put aside to be in my electorate, as is the case with many of the members in this house. Whilst that is the case, that does not ever preclude me from taking briefings, taking calls, generally with the ministerial office. We still do other meetings, and we do a number of briefings during that period as well. So there is absolutely no question about my deep, long-term, lifelong commitment to the child protection area and to making improvements to that system.

It is utterly shameful that, rather than engaging in a conversation about the solutions about the way forward, this is what we have to put up with. I would also say that I think it's really disgraceful. I don't want to go into all the details in this house, but the shadow minister also knows what was in my diary on every single one of those nights at that time—

The SPEAKER: Order, minister!

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: It's marked in there really, really clearly, in terms of dealing with a really difficult family issue.

The SPEAKER: Minister, I am bound to—

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: That is in there as well, and the fact that he has chosen to even ask about that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: —is disgraceful.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, I am bound to hear the point of order from the member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: I was going to say 127, but if the minister is finished I am happy to seek the call for a question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The exchange across the chamber will cease. If the minister has concluded her answer, I will turn to the member for Mawson.

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