Page 187 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 16 February 2011
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seen more young people on the roof, and we have seen more and more figures coming both from the government itself directly and through the ROGS inquiry that show that we are underperforming for our most vulnerable people and that the people in the youth justice system are not being served well. And the result of that will be that the youth justice system will be a conduit directly into the adult justice correction system. And this is a huge shame for a community as prosperous and as well off as we are.
These are compelling reasons for taking this inquiry out of the hands of the current inquirer and putting it where it belongs: with people who can be trusted by all concerned and who will look at this with all the powers that they need to protect those people who need to be protected.
I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (3.10): This is an extraordinary and appalling resolution being proposed by Mrs Dunne today. We have heard out of her own mouth this afternoon that this is a proposed resolution about the fact that she and the opposition cannot trust a statutory independent public office holder to do their job. It is an unprecedented attack against the integrity, the credibility and the professionalism of a highly respected and independent public office holder. As the Attorney-General, I will stand by this independent public office holder who performs vital independent watchdog functions in an independent Human Rights Commission.
My colleague Ms Burch is going to deal with the issues around the provision of youth justice services; that is a matter that falls within her portfolio responsibilities. But today I want to turn to the issue of the standing and the integrity of the office of the Children and Young People Commissioner.
What is very clear from this motion today is that it is simply another attempt by the opposition to relitigate an argument they lost in this Assembly last year. Last year they sought to advance the argument that there should be a judicial inquiry into the operation of youth justice services in the territory, and they failed in making that argument.
What have we seen since that time? Since they lost the argument and this Assembly decided that the independent Human Rights Commission would be the appropriate body to undertake the inquiry, what have we seen from the opposition? We have seen from the opposition an attempt to undermine and discredit that very important inquiry process. We have seen the manufacturing of an overblown and exaggerated claim of misconduct on the part of the Children and Young People Commissioner to try and get their argument up, to try and establish the case again for an independent judicial inquiry.
The fact is that the claims made by the opposition have no credence whatsoever. The Children and Young People Commissioner has conducted himself at all times appropriately and professionally. I stand by him and the government stands by him in the vital work he is performing. We believe he should be allowed to continue to
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