Ms MOSS - 2015-03-25
This morning you told ABC radio you want to do everything you can to prevent child abuse. Labor understood the need for more investment in support services for vulnerable families and children in remote communities and town camps. We provided an additional $33m for child protection, with $11m for frontline workers. That is why we commissioned the Growing them strong, together report, described by former minister Lambley on 18 March 2014 as an incredible document. It is a first-class report and will live on for a long time as a reference for what we should do in this space. In the first two years of government you have had three CEOs and three ministers for Child Protection, and you failed to act on recommendations in part five of Growing them strong, together. Will you proceed to implement all recommendations of that report?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we are not afraid to talk about child abuse and we have responses to it. You might want to reflect on when Clare Martin was the Chief Minister …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, sit down. The Chief Minister has only had 40 seconds to answer. Give him time.
Mr GILES: If only world records were being set – 14 seconds for an interjection. You are doing well, member for Nightcliff.
Clare Martin is the former Chief Minister. She had the Little Children are Sacred report, which showed horrendous levels of child abuse and neglect of children in the Northern Territory. That report was not made public at the time.
It was not until Mal Brough, the former minister for Indigenous Affairs, found the report, made it public and provided a response to it. We are not afraid to talk about these issues and we think they need to be addressed and responded to. I ask the Minister for Children and Families to respond to this question.
Mr ELFERINK (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, I note that the answer from the members opposite is to solve the problem by spending more money on it. That is not necessarily the truth.
When I became the minister for Child Protection I asked the department to go through the individual contracts for out-of-home care services. In one instance we were paying $300 000 for a 17-year-old fully compliant child to be looked after. Unfortunately, the former Labor government allowed these things to occur simply because they were spending more money. We believe in making sure the bureaucracy delivers the services. Here is a sad truth: there are more kids in care now than ever before. That frustrates me because parents neglect …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Will you implement all the recommendations of the Growing them strong, together report, and if not, which ones will you ignore?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The minister has time to address the question.
Mr ELFERINK: The preamble invited comment across a raft of areas that would probably take me an hour to address. The Labor Party thought spending $300 000 to look after a fully compliant 17-year-old was an acceptable way to spend taxpayers’ money. We on this side of the House believe in child protection and will spend in accordance with what must be spent in that area to ensure that …
Ms Lawrie: It was an expert report.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Karama, cease interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: We will do what is necessary to make sure kids are protected. If we need to spend more than the budget, which probably will happen this year to achieve that outcome, then we will do that. We will not sign up to the Labor Party’s idea of signing any cheque, anywhere, anytime for any outcome simply because you can announce that you are spending more money.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we are not afraid to talk about child abuse and we have responses to it. You might want to reflect on when Clare Martin was the Chief Minister …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, sit down. The Chief Minister has only had 40 seconds to answer. Give him time.
Mr GILES: If only world records were being set – 14 seconds for an interjection. You are doing well, member for Nightcliff.
Clare Martin is the former Chief Minister. She had the Little Children are Sacred report, which showed horrendous levels of child abuse and neglect of children in the Northern Territory. That report was not made public at the time.
It was not until Mal Brough, the former minister for Indigenous Affairs, found the report, made it public and provided a response to it. We are not afraid to talk about these issues and we think they need to be addressed and responded to. I ask the Minister for Children and Families to respond to this question.
Mr ELFERINK (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, I note that the answer from the members opposite is to solve the problem by spending more money on it. That is not necessarily the truth.
When I became the minister for Child Protection I asked the department to go through the individual contracts for out-of-home care services. In one instance we were paying $300 000 for a 17-year-old fully compliant child to be looked after. Unfortunately, the former Labor government allowed these things to occur simply because they were spending more money. We believe in making sure the bureaucracy delivers the services. Here is a sad truth: there are more kids in care now than ever before. That frustrates me because parents neglect …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Will you implement all the recommendations of the Growing them strong, together report, and if not, which ones will you ignore?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The minister has time to address the question.
Mr ELFERINK: The preamble invited comment across a raft of areas that would probably take me an hour to address. The Labor Party thought spending $300 000 to look after a fully compliant 17-year-old was an acceptable way to spend taxpayers’ money. We on this side of the House believe in child protection and will spend in accordance with what must be spent in that area to ensure that …
Ms Lawrie: It was an expert report.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Karama, cease interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: We will do what is necessary to make sure kids are protected. If we need to spend more than the budget, which probably will happen this year to achieve that outcome, then we will do that. We will not sign up to the Labor Party’s idea of signing any cheque, anywhere, anytime for any outcome simply because you can announce that you are spending more money.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016