Ivan Dean, Speeches Index

Thursday 28 May 2009

CHILDREN, YOUNG PERSONS AND THEIR FAMILIES
AMENDMENT BILL 2009

Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - I would be very surprised if there is not total support for this bill. It is very important that we ensure that there is adequate and proper protection of children and also for the child before it is born. That is the important issue. I am not so sure that all women fully appreciate that position. If you talk to a lot of young people in particular about what can cause problems with a child during the pregnancy stage, there is not a lot they can tell you about it, so I am not so sure that we are providing the proper education that is necessary. I have often talked to women who are pregnant and are chain smokers. I have said, 'Do you realise that you are probably causing harm to your unborn child?' but they cannot see that at all. We know alcohol consumption and substance abuse has an impact on the unborn child. I am not quite sure just where we go in reporting some of these things because if you are an adult and know of a woman who is pregnant and you know that they are abusing alcohol, you know that they are taking drugs, I take it under this legislation that you are required to report that.

Ms Thorp - Only mandatory reporters are required to report.

Mr DEAN - I just wonder just where -

Ms Thorp - It's like a societal obligation.

Ms FORREST - Through you, Madam President - I have looked after women who have continued to smoke heavily in spite of all the advice. Even when you tell them their baby is not growing well, there is a real risk their baby will die, they continue to smoke, and when their baby does die - and it does happen - they want to blame somebody other than themselves. It has happened.

Mr DEAN - It is a good point and you would like to see that sort of thing eradicated, but it is not going to be. We must be real, but I suppose we should be taking whatever steps we possibly can to lessen the likelihood of that type of behaviour occurring.

During the 1980s I was in fact a member of a child protection committee in Devonport and there are many sad situations out there. Whilst I was a member of that committee I worked with a number of families where children very clearly were not being supported properly and in some instances had been clearly neglected and assistance was necessary. There were many cases unfortunately where criminal action had to be taken. There are a lot of people out there that fit into that category.

The sad situation is that the police, interestingly, can fairly accurately tell you who are going to be the next lot of wayward kids, who are going to be the next lot of criminals, who are going to be the next lot of persons in and out of the courts, and the member for Nelson would be well and truly aware of that. Police can identify that at a very, very early stage, but really, what can you do about it? This legislation might help a little, in trying to get on top of that. There are families that I could mention, but I will not, where as a police officer I was involved with the parents and later I was involved with their sons and daughters, and then later, their sons and daughters, so I dealt with about three different generations as a police officer. You knew very well that was going to be the case, that they were going to be the offenders, because they were not given the proper support. It was neglect in many instances, and a pretty sad situation. We now know, from fairly good information, I suppose, and good judgment, who will be the next people in the line at Centrelink.

Ms Thorp - That's the cycle we need to break.

Mr DEAN - That is right, it is a matter of trying to break that. I was going to refer to the police program, Adopt a Cop. It is still working in some areas, it is working in some schools, certainly in some of the northern suburb schools in Launceston where there is an absolute opportunity for police, in particular, to become involved with the children at a very impressionable stage of their lives - that is, in the early grades of primary school, where with their involvement with children I think can help to break some of that cycle that they get caught up in. I think that we should be putting more into some of those programs because I am very confident that some of those programs have helped a lot of these children, and probably put them onto a better path. I think we should probably be putting more emphasis on those programs. I have always supported the Adopt a Cop Program and was involved in one myself. It really was interesting when you started working with these young children to hear what they would tell you and see what they would act out in front of you, knowing very well what they were being subjected to at home - what they were able to see at home and what they were a part of at home. It was a real eye-opener. I think we need to be aware of the importance of getting in at the right stage and that is what a lot of this is probably about as well.

I told a story previously - and I am not going to go through it again here today - of a 14-year-old boy who was unable to get any support from his home. He was being neglected. He was not being supported at home. He committed offences in front of police so that he would go to Ashley where he could get the support that he wanted and that was where he was going to get a meal, he had a nice, warm bed to get into, he could watch television and a few other things; he was assured of all of that in Ashley. We do have some very sad situations out there and it is heartbreaking at times because how often have you seen a child you know is not being supported, is being neglected and you have said to yourself, 'If I could take that child I could make a good person of that child. I could give them the things that they need to have a bright future to move forward'. It does impact on you and particularly when you have children and grandchildren of your own, so you really take notice of those things.

I raised one or two issues this morning in the briefing that we had and I thank the people involved in that because it does allow us the opportunity to raise issues in that format without the necessity to come in here and do that. But there are some issues that I think need to be brought out so that they can go on the Hansard in this Chamber.

We were told that it is a one-stop single access point. I think for that to work properly, as I said this morning, we need to ensure that there are the necessary facilities, that there is a real person to take these calls, to take the action that is necessary rather than it being a recorded voice and a machine that people talk to and so on, because it is off-putting, it is upsetting and the reporting process might not occur in a way that it should.

The other matter mentioned by the member for Pembroke, I think, was that they need to be properly resourced, financed and all the rest of that and that is very important. We are very good at setting up these programs and there are a number of programs out there that support children and help kids. I wonder at times how we bring a lot of them together. A lot of them are so fragmented; I do not think a lot of these groups really know -

Ms Thorp - This is the challenge.

Mr DEAN - That is right, that is the challenge of getting a proper control of all of this, trying to bring them all together so that they do know who is responsible for what, when, where and how it is all done. Unless that occurs we are never going to get it right. I was going to say also that setting them up is one thing but they will never work properly unless they are properly resourced and properly financed. I have seen programs set up, we all have, from time to time that at the end fall apart because they do not have the required personnel and there is not the finance.

In this instance, we are told that that is all in place and I am just hoping it is because these young children are critical to us moving forward. I hope that all of that is in place.

Mrs Rattray-Wagner - I think we have a minister who will be keeping a very close eye on it.

Mr DEAN - I have every confidence in our minister.

Ms Thorp - Why do I keep thinking 11 June, 11 June?

Mr DEAN - I have heard some very good reports about this minister and in fact I have had some very good results myself from the minister's office. That is wonderful, particularly in relation to housing. I am very grateful for the support and assistance given there.

I think this will be a good program. I am confident it will work and I will certainly do what I need to do to give it support as well.

Ms Thorp - Through you, Madam President - I am more than happy to undertake to regularly report to the Council about how it is all going, too, if that would be of interest.

Mr DEAN - That would be very useful.

Ms Thorp - The Gateways are supposed to start, all going well, on 1 August so I think it would be only reasonable for me to undertake to report back well before Christmas.

Mr DEAN - I wonder at times what constitutes abuse. It is interesting. I have a grand-daughter who is 16 months old. She was brought to visit us on Saturday and my daughter-in-law is a solicitor. It was interesting because young Nina had, about four days before, fallen through a window. I was there at the time and she cut herself quite badly between the eyes. It was glued up and everything else. When her mother brought her around on Saturday there was Nina with the glue and a big scar down this side of her face. What had happened about three days later was that she had pulled a shopping trolley over in the supermarket. When her mother asked me to take her for a walk up the street I said, 'No, I am not going to'. She said, 'Why don't you?'. I said because if the police come along they will lock me up for abuse when they see this child. She is a well looked-after and lovely child.

Mrs Rattray-Wagner - Through you, Madam President - did you play with her in the backyard at least?

Mr DEAN - Yes. She is a little delight and her sister is as well. They have changed their lives.

I will support the bill. As I said, I will do everything possible in my control to make it work and work with the people involved in it.

Return To Main Page.

Return To Speeches.