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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-04 Daily Xml
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Coronial Recommendations

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:43): When Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel handed down his damning findings less than two weeks ago into the tragic and senseless deaths of two innocent children at the brutal hands of their troubled mother's partner in 2016, the newly elected government leapt to its feet to announce it would accept and implement all of his recommendations. They include a broad range of all coronial and other Ombudsman and royal commission recommendations relating to child protection and a review of all statutory obligations to ensure department practices align.

The new Minister for Child Protection acknowledged the failure of successive governments, for the most part her own, to heed the warnings. I note yesterday the Premier told the other place a review into the implementation of successive Coroners' recommendations will be expeditious and transparent. Forgive me for being a sceptic, but none of us want to hear more hollow words. Like the rest of the community, I think we are all tired of waiting for action, tired of excuses for inaction, only to be reminded again and again when another child dies in tragic unspeakable circumstances that our child protection system is utterly broken.

Make no mistake, young innocent children are dying unnecessarily at the hands of sick and disturbed people due to this state's shattered child protection system. Make no mistake again, more vulnerable children will die or be seriously injured if this government fails yet again to get it right.

None of us can forget poor little Chloe Valentine, who died after suffering fatal injuries due to the cruel actions of her own mother and mother's partner. Despite being exposed to domestic violence, and living with a registered child sex offender, little Chloe was not removed from her mother's care under the previous Labor government's watch. That was 10 years ago, and here we are with another three deaths on our hands and the Coroner's findings still not implemented by successive Labor and Liberal governments.

Then there was four-month-old Ebony Napier. Despite being hospitalised with a broken femur when she was just five weeks old, little Ebony was allowed to return home and died with over 50 injuries to her tiny body. If someone had stepped in—or if only someone had stepped in—to act instead of ignoring the red flags, the 2016 deaths of five-year-old Korey Mitchell and six-year-old Amber Rigney at the hands of Steven Peet potentially could have been prevented. Fortunately, Peet is unlikely to hurt another child ever again after being sentenced to life imprisonment with a 36-year non-parole period.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I have spent a good part of the past four years hearing from parents and carers who have been on the receiving end of what can only be described as DCP overreach. The department is clearly in crisis. Doing my part to fix it is my priority over the next four years, and it should be the priority of everyone in here. I, like the rest of the community, are tired of hearing that we can do better, that we must do better and then we do not do anything at all.

As of 31 January this year, 4,668 kids were in care in South Australia. There are 4,014 18-year guardian orders in place. These numbers are on a sharp upward trajectory. The over-representation of Indigenous kids in the child protection system is an absolute disgrace, and we should all accept nothing less than the full implementation of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander child placement principles to allow the community to lead their own. The full review of the Child and Young People's Safety Act cannot come soon enough, and the placement principles must form part of the review, as should the reinsertion of the best interests of the child paramountcy principles.

Recent changes to the Coroners Act, which I pushed for in this place, are targeted at this very type of situation to keep the government accountable. It means the minister is now bound to report back to parliament on what action it proposes to take in response to each of the recommendations made by the Coroner. Findings cannot just sit on a desk in the too-hard basket anymore. It is now this government's duty to report action in this case, rather than more empty words that we have had from successive governments in this state.

Let us just pray in the meantime that we do not see another Chloe, another Ebony, another Korey or another Amber hit the headlines before we finally see some real and effective action. This government is on notice once again that the time has come for action and no more hollow words.

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