Ms CARTER - 2003-10-07
Today you have spoken of your care and concern for the welfare of child abuse victims. I refer you to the story of a 15-year-old pregnant school girl who, in April of this year, was at the centre of a front page ‘sex for drugs’ report in the NT News. The report indicated that the girl was 14-years-old when your department put her into foster care. The girl had admitted to beginning to drink alcohol and snort speed after going into foster care. She is quoted as saying:
What investigations did you carry out in relation to this matter, and what actions have you taken as minister responsible for this girl’s care?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, alas, I do not have a copy of that front page of the NT News in front of me either. At the time, as I remember - and it is a while ago - we carried out an inquiry through the department. One of the issues was that we did not know the name of the person quoted in the article, as I recall. When we were able to find out who that might be, as I remember it, it was found that the allegations that were made in the paper were not accurate.
I do not have the details in front of me. It is an individual case. To raise this kind of issue in parliament is a very difficult thing. We do not have the permission of the young woman involved or her family. There are privacy laws, both in the Northern Territory and in Australia, that prevent us from making these kinds of comments, whether that is in parliament or elsewhere.
I can assure members of the House that, at the time, we did look into the situation. As I recall, although it is not something that I have a brief on, the allegations that were made in the paper were inaccurate.
- There were always people around using drugs. I feel like my life has been ruined.
What investigations did you carry out in relation to this matter, and what actions have you taken as minister responsible for this girl’s care?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, alas, I do not have a copy of that front page of the NT News in front of me either. At the time, as I remember - and it is a while ago - we carried out an inquiry through the department. One of the issues was that we did not know the name of the person quoted in the article, as I recall. When we were able to find out who that might be, as I remember it, it was found that the allegations that were made in the paper were not accurate.
I do not have the details in front of me. It is an individual case. To raise this kind of issue in parliament is a very difficult thing. We do not have the permission of the young woman involved or her family. There are privacy laws, both in the Northern Territory and in Australia, that prevent us from making these kinds of comments, whether that is in parliament or elsewhere.
I can assure members of the House that, at the time, we did look into the situation. As I recall, although it is not something that I have a brief on, the allegations that were made in the paper were inaccurate.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016