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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Thursday, 5 August 2004) . . Page.. 3502 ..

If the committee thought so gravely about this non-compliance, why wasn’t every committee member banging on my door saying, “There are children in the territory about whom allegations of abuse have been made and they are not being handed to the Community Advocate.” Why didn’t that happen if everybody knew as they know now? As it turned out yesterday, everybody knows all the problems in family services. Everybody knows the content of what the auditors raised, so why weren’t they banging down my door telling me, “This child is in danger; this child is being abused”? None of them did.

Why was every agency in the territory not coming to me and saying, “Family services is in chaos; the refocus agenda is not working; there are all these children at risk”? Why was that not happening, if everybody knew, as they know now? Now that they have the audit report that I commissioned through the review, why does everyone now know this? Why was it a secret from everyone? If it was not a secret to you, I do not know how you can live with yourself.

Part of the debate yesterday and the debate today, I think, is about everybody in this place feeling sick to the stomach with what the audit has found; people looking inside themselves and asking, “How on earth could our system have done this to our children? How on earth could this have happened? Whilst we were all in here and all part of inquiries, how could this have happened?” That is the only humane reason I can give for everybody now saying, “Katy knew about it; she should have done something but she never did.”

Mrs Burke: You should!

MS GALLAGHER: Mrs Burke, I am going to take you up on that. I would like you to table proof that I knew about what was going on.

Mrs Burke: You’ve got it.

Mr Quinlan: Put up or shut up!

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MS GALLAGHER: You have accused me. Mr Speaker, Mrs Burke has alleged several times today that I knew what was going on in child protection and that I did nothing about it. I am merely asking that she table proof of that allegation. It is an extremely serious allegation. If you can prove it, Mrs Burke, table it.

Mr Quinlan: Shut up!

Mrs Dunne: I rise on a point of order. Twice in the last minute Mr Quinlan has told Mrs Burke to shut up. I would like him to desist.

MR SPEAKER: A couple of times I have called her to order as well. It is not Mr Quinlan’s job to do that; it is mine. I ask Mrs Burke to take heed of my comments.

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