❓ Opposition questions the Premier about the Minister for Child Protection's performance, citing racism, unsafe workloads, and failures. The Premier defends the Minister, highlighting increased staffing and a decline in Aboriginal children in care.
AnsweredQoN 118Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MINISTER FOR CHILD PROTECTION — PERFORMANCE
118. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to damning reports that
point to endemic and widespread racism in the portfolio of child protection,
the police raid of an employee's
home, reports of unsafe workloads for staff, failures to meet child safety key
performance indicators, and a walkout of exhausted and stressed child
protection workers right now. When will the Premier show leadership and sack
the Minister for Child Protection?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please, members!
118. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to damning reports that
point to endemic and widespread racism in the portfolio of child protection,
the police raid of an employee's
home, reports of unsafe workloads for staff, failures to meet child safety key
performance indicators, and a walkout of exhausted and stressed child
protection workers right now. When will the Premier show leadership and sack
the Minister for Child Protection?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please, members!
AnswerView source ↗
It is beneath the Leader of the
Opposition to launch these sorts of silly, childish and nasty attacks on a minister
who is doing a good job in a very difficult portfolio. As anyone who has ever
held that portfolio would understand, the minister is dealing with complex
issues across a very large state, with people with long-term and sometimes
intergenerational issues that are trying to be resolved on a daily basis by
committed staff in difficult positions, in difficult locations. What I have
noted about the minister is that she is deeply committed to improving the lives
of, particularly, people who are
disadvantaged and children who are in a position of need. It is a cheap and
nasty attack.
In terms of the actual resourcing for the agency, in our time
in office, since 2017, we have increased the staffing levels of child protection workers by over 200. That is significantly
more than was done during the previous eight years of the last Liberal–National
government. It is a massive increase in the number of child protection workers
out there across Western Australia. The government made that available because
we managed the finances properly in Western Australia, which has allowed us to
invest in important initiatives like that.
I
also note—the minister has said this and I think it deserves some
acknowledgement—that the number of Aboriginal children in care
has actually declined. It is the first time, I think, in many years, if not
ever, that the number of Aboriginal children in care has declined, because we
have worked very, very vigorously with families to ensure that they are able to
look after their children, and fewer children are removed into another form of
care, which is an important and under-acknowledged achievement for Aboriginal
people across the state.
The
Leader of the Opposition will no doubt have her matter of public interest
motion and I expect it will be full of a bunch of wild and excessive
statements and falsehoods, but the minister is doing an outstanding job in a difficult
portfolio.
Opposition to launch these sorts of silly, childish and nasty attacks on a minister
who is doing a good job in a very difficult portfolio. As anyone who has ever
held that portfolio would understand, the minister is dealing with complex
issues across a very large state, with people with long-term and sometimes
intergenerational issues that are trying to be resolved on a daily basis by
committed staff in difficult positions, in difficult locations. What I have
noted about the minister is that she is deeply committed to improving the lives
of, particularly, people who are
disadvantaged and children who are in a position of need. It is a cheap and
nasty attack.
In terms of the actual resourcing for the agency, in our time
in office, since 2017, we have increased the staffing levels of child protection workers by over 200. That is significantly
more than was done during the previous eight years of the last Liberal–National
government. It is a massive increase in the number of child protection workers
out there across Western Australia. The government made that available because
we managed the finances properly in Western Australia, which has allowed us to
invest in important initiatives like that.
I
also note—the minister has said this and I think it deserves some
acknowledgement—that the number of Aboriginal children in care
has actually declined. It is the first time, I think, in many years, if not
ever, that the number of Aboriginal children in care has declined, because we
have worked very, very vigorously with families to ensure that they are able to
look after their children, and fewer children are removed into another form of
care, which is an important and under-acknowledged achievement for Aboriginal
people across the state.
The
Leader of the Opposition will no doubt have her matter of public interest
motion and I expect it will be full of a bunch of wild and excessive
statements and falsehoods, but the minister is doing an outstanding job in a difficult
portfolio.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.