Mr HENDERSON - 1999-10-13
Here’s another one that goes to this government’s failure to prevent youth crime. There is no youth crisis accommodation in Palmerston. Isn’t it a fact that the family shelter proposed for Palmerston has been delayed? When is Palmerston going to get some accommodation for homeless youth?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, there is probably more we can do to provide services for homeless youth. Yes, that’s true. I will say though, that there is not a complete dearth of services for youth. A substantial number of agencies are available to assist children at risk.
This is an issue that my department treats very, very seriously. We have a number of options available for accommodating children who are in the unfortunate position of irretrievable family breakdown. It is an unfortunate but common fact throughout Western civilisations that governments occasionally have to step in and take the place of parents. Despite what has been put in this House this morning, this is not an optimal situation. Governments do not make good parents. The best situation is to try to address the problems within the family and make sure that the child can be accommodated where it is best looked after by its natural parents.
In the event that that fails, we look at other options, placing the child within their own cultural or social milieu. When that fails, we look to the wider community or to other members of the child’s family. This is a matter of great seriousness to the department. We don’t look merely at institutions as the only way to go. We have a series of options available to place children.
If you took the crazy rhetoric from the other side to its natural conclusion, they would have us believe that we are the substitute parent for every child that is at risk in the community. This is patent nonsense, from the same party that delivered us ‘no child will be living in poverty’. There are some things that governments cannot fix. One of the things that I cannot fix is the fact that there are people in our community who have extremely poor parenting skills. Their lack of parenting skills will reflect on the child.
It is a sad fact that we have to have strategies in place to address the best interests of those children. We have to have a series of options available to us so that it’s not just a matter of providing a facility for homeless children - plug it in and everything is well. Unfortunately, in the arena that I deal with it’s not that easy.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, there is probably more we can do to provide services for homeless youth. Yes, that’s true. I will say though, that there is not a complete dearth of services for youth. A substantial number of agencies are available to assist children at risk.
This is an issue that my department treats very, very seriously. We have a number of options available for accommodating children who are in the unfortunate position of irretrievable family breakdown. It is an unfortunate but common fact throughout Western civilisations that governments occasionally have to step in and take the place of parents. Despite what has been put in this House this morning, this is not an optimal situation. Governments do not make good parents. The best situation is to try to address the problems within the family and make sure that the child can be accommodated where it is best looked after by its natural parents.
In the event that that fails, we look at other options, placing the child within their own cultural or social milieu. When that fails, we look to the wider community or to other members of the child’s family. This is a matter of great seriousness to the department. We don’t look merely at institutions as the only way to go. We have a series of options available to place children.
If you took the crazy rhetoric from the other side to its natural conclusion, they would have us believe that we are the substitute parent for every child that is at risk in the community. This is patent nonsense, from the same party that delivered us ‘no child will be living in poverty’. There are some things that governments cannot fix. One of the things that I cannot fix is the fact that there are people in our community who have extremely poor parenting skills. Their lack of parenting skills will reflect on the child.
It is a sad fact that we have to have strategies in place to address the best interests of those children. We have to have a series of options available to us so that it’s not just a matter of providing a facility for homeless children - plug it in and everything is well. Unfortunately, in the arena that I deal with it’s not that easy.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016