❓ A parliamentary question regarding the protection of teachers under public officer assault legislation, prompted by concerns about safety in a regional WA school. The Minister responds by highlighting existing protections and difficulties with mandatory sentencing for students.
AnsweredQoN 222Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TEACHERS — PUBLIC OFFICER ASSAULT LEGISLATION
I refer to a regional Western Australian school — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members to my left, I am endeavouring to hear the question of the member for Midland. Members to my left should desist from speaking while the member has the call. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE
I refer to a regional Western Australian school — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members to my left, I am endeavouring to hear the question of the member for Midland. Members to my left should desist from speaking while the member has the call. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members to my left, I am endeavouring to hear the question of the member for Midland. Members to my left should desist from speaking while the member has the call. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
The SPEAKER : Members to my left, I am endeavouring to hear the question of the member for Midland. Members to my left should desist from speaking while the member has the call. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members to my left, I am endeavouring to hear the question of the member for Midland. Members to my left should desist from speaking while the member has the call. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
The SPEAKER : Members to my left, I am endeavouring to hear the question of the member for Midland. Members to my left should desist from speaking while the member has the call. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : I refer to a regional Western Australian school where the staff are currently on permanent lockdown in their classrooms, communicating by walkie-talkie, and until recently were required to wear safety glasses during yard duty to protect themselves from missiles being hurled at them by intruders on school grounds. (1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(1) Can the minister explain to the house why teachers do not deserve the full protection offered by public officer assault legislation? (2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(2) Did the minister argue to include teachers under the protection of the public officer assault legislation? (3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(3) If not, why does the minister think that teachers deserve less protection from the government than security guards, prison officers and other public officers? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
(1)-(3) I am really pleased that the member for Midland has asked this question, because she may be interested to know that the very first school I ever taught in was an inner-suburban school in Sydney that was very rough. I have seen many of the incidents that teachers have to deal with. Of course, the safety and security of teachers are a top priority for me, as they are for the government. In some, but not all, schools, there are incidents that teachers have to deal with. One of the things we have to remember is that teachers are dealing with people under the age of 17. Very often, the incidents in schools are minor. There was an article in the Sunday Times last weekend that talked about the number of incidents, but the vast majority of incidents are minor. I will give some examples. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Parents and other adults are involved in committing some of the offences. Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : Most of the incidents in schools involved students. There is the sort of thing that might happen with an autistic student. A recent example is when an autistic student brushed a file across a table and hit a teacher, causing a small laceration. That is typical of the type of incident that is reported. All incidents of that sort are reported. When we are dealing with schools and students, we are dealing with very different situations from those involving police, who routinely confront violence every day. Mandatory sentencing with regard to assaults on teachers by students would be fraught with difficulties. None of us would want to see students dealt with in this way. There are other ways to deal with these problems. Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mr A.J. Carpenter : Did you say “fraught with difficulties”? Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : I did — for children. Point of Order Mr M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, last week the opposition had to take a point of order in relation to this minister reading her answers, and you indicated on that occasion that because the answer that she was giving related to a specific incident and was very sensitive, she should maybe have some latitude, but you said that that would be the only type of occasion on which she would receive that latitude. On this occasion, the minister is once again reading her answer, and I ask that she comply with the standing orders and not read her answers and speeches in this Parliament. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Further to that point of order, the manager of opposition business is absolutely wrong. The minister is not reading her speech in this Parliament. She has some very brief notes, as you can see, Mr Speaker, and they are probably memory joggers, so that she can get her points across. She is not reading the speech at all. The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
The SPEAKER : I urge the minister to continue. It is my summation that she is not reading a prepared speech; they are notes. I am sure the member for Midland is interested in the minister’s answer, and I encourage the minister to continue. Questions without Notice Resumed Dr E. CONSTABLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
I direct the member for Midland to section 318 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaults on public officers and which shows that assault has a maximum penalty of seven years and serious assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years, and to section 297 where — Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the Opposition! Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : — assault resulting in grievous bodily harm results in a maximum penalty of 14 years. I believe that teachers are well covered by this legislation.
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