Page 3610 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
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part of our heritage that we need to conserve. We need to take it seriously because we cannot easily replace them, if at all.
I understand the Education Directorate is exploring additional protection measures to avoid this happening again. Despite this dreadful situation I am pleased that it is likely to lead to some strengthening of and improvement in our heritage laws. That is good. We will obviously look at the amendments when presented to the Assembly, but I anticipate that the Greens will support them.
The other thing I really would like to hear about and which was not part of the minister’s statement was how the government, possibly the Education Directorate, is talking to the Aboriginal people affected by this. I have spoken to some of them, and the word ropeable comes to mind. They were not impressed, and it is very important that the government talks to the affected Aboriginal people and organisations about reparations and what we should do about this.
For anyone in the Assembly who is not aware of this, there is a picture of some scar trees on the external wall of Minister Berry’s office on the second floor. If anybody wants to know what we are talking about they should have a look at the picture. Some of that is part of our heritage, which unfortunately is now gone.
Thank you, minister, for this update. I look forward to the amendments and I look forward to the ACT government talking to the affected Aboriginal organisations about reparations.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Elder abuse
Ministerial statement
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (10.23): The abuse of older people in the Canberra community is something that certainly concerns us all. We all have older people in our lives, whether they are grandparents, parents, relatives, friends or neighbours, whom we care about, and we want to keep them safe from harm and exploitation. Older Canberrans have contributed so much during their lives and they continue to enrich our community. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in their senior years. It is important for all of us that we have robust protections in place to prevent and address elder abuse, including physical abuse, neglect and financial abuse, to ensure the wellbeing of all Canberrans at all stages of life.
For those who have been following the government’s work on addressing elder abuse, they will know that the safety and wellbeing of older Canberrans are matters that are very close to my heart. Like family violence, elder abuse happens behind closed doors, perpetrated in secret against vulnerable victims. But, unlike family violence, which has been brought out into the light of public awareness and which is the subject of
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