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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-10 Daily Xml
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Debelle Protocols

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (15:15): Again, the minister has not answered how those protocols have been adjusted to deal with the changes to the law, and that raises the question of how, minister, you can—despite the fact that you demand to be notified about critical incidents, it appears that you don't demand to be notified about protocols. Can you explain why that is the case?

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary question, so you need the question only. I will call the minister.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: My question is: why is that the case? Why does the minister not know the protocols when she is so involved in—

The PRESIDENT: No, look, I will make it clear. Supplementary questions are a question only, and there is no explanation. I think I gave you a fair bit of latitude. I call the minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:16): I am delighted to answer this particular question. I would defer to your wisdom in that you have identified the honourable member has not been following the due process in terms of supplementary questions and I think was trying to go down a different path, but I am delighted to respond, because—

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: After the third request.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I have listened to her in silence. I would just appreciate the same courtesy, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: No, I am listening to you, and I ask others to do so.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Thank you, Mr President. I think this is another tactic of the Labor Party in question time. We have got the open book exam—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —which is not an open book. We have got the gotcha moment, and now we have got these inference moments where ministers need to be phoning everybody themselves and understanding every complete detail of everything in order to be effective ministers—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition will remain silent, and so will the former President, the Hon. Mr Wortley.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —rather than trusting our staff to know what they are doing.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I want to hear the minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: And I would like to respond to some of the slurs, in effect, which is what the Labor Party is doing, slurs that—

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Point of order, Mr President: the minister appears to be reflecting on members, presumably myself, since I was the one who has asked the questions, and I have not made any slurs whatsoever.

The PRESIDENT: No, please be seated. There is no point of order. However, this is an answer to a supplementary question. I am keen that answers are concise, so I will ask that the minister continue her answer, and I am sure she will be concise. Minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Thank you, Mr President. I will wrap it up. The team that works in the Department of Human Services is extremely professional. I don't like the inference that they need me to check up on every last detail they do. Indeed the Incident Management Unit, if I can advise, includes a current SAPOL officer who is in that role on leave without pay. We also have other staff, including a former SAPOL officer, two former police officers from other jurisdictions, two solicitors and several staff who have also been involved in government investigations.

I say that because those inferences and slurs have been made in relation to the investigations within the Department of Human Services by the Australian Labor Party, and they are inappropriate. In the case of accommodation services, the department takes its support for all of the clients and other staff within those services extremely seriously. I am more than happy to outline a range of the reforms that we have undertaken in the disability services accommodation which clearly demonstrate that we take these matters seriously and that we are rectifying a number of matters that were sadly neglected by the previous administration.

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