❓ A parliamentary question regarding the Wade Scale case, specifically why a meeting requested by the grandmother didn't occur and why the responsible minister remained in cabinet. The Premier expresses regret and defends the minister, citing reliance on professional advice and the difficulty of the portfolio.
AnsweredQoN 482Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WADE SCALE
In one of her letters in 2002 to the former Minister for Community Development, Wade Scale’s grandmother pleaded for a meeting to discuss the safety of her grandson. She wrote, in part - I believe that tragedies will occur . . . no child’s life or welfare should be placed in jeopardy given the past history in this case which is sadly being ignored. I will not give up on these children. (1) Why did the meeting not take place? (2) Why is the poorly performing minister still in the cabinet? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
In one of her letters in 2002 to the former Minister for Community Development, Wade Scale’s grandmother pleaded for a meeting to discuss the safety of her grandson. She wrote, in part - I believe that tragedies will occur . . . no child’s life or welfare should be placed in jeopardy given the past history in this case which is sadly being ignored. I will not give up on these children. (1) Why did the meeting not take place? (2) Why is the poorly performing minister still in the cabinet? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
(2) Why is the poorly performing minister still in the cabinet? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
(2) Why is the poorly performing minister still in the cabinet? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for some notice of this question. I appreciate her interest in this matter. I said yesterday or the day before in relation to this case that nobody has anything but the greatest regret about what happened to this young boy. It is terrible. Nobody has anything but the deepest sympathy for his grandmother. I think that everybody understands that the circumstances of such cases are extremely complicated and difficult. When ministers are advised, notified or contacted by people who have concerns along these lines, they do what they can to ensure that those concerns are dealt with. In the end we had to rely on professional advice, which came not just from one line of advice but also two non-government organisations that were involved in managing this particular case. I believe that the minister was an outstanding minister who conducted herself very, very well for five years in what is a very, very difficult portfolio replete with circumstances that are full of potentially bad outcomes for people. It is a very, very difficult portfolio. I have the greatest confidence in the minister. She performed very well in her task. It was a complicated task. She instituted a lot of reforms; she instituted a lot of system changes in the department. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Ms S.E. Walker interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I know that it is about this particular case. I understand that there are always going to be questions asked about why one course of action was chosen over another. People make the best judgments that they can at the time. It is quite clear that some of those judgments were not good judgments. That is easy to observe in hindsight. I do not believe I can add anything more to what I have said about this particular case than that. We are all extremely regretful about the way circumstances turned out; of course we are. Nobody would feel anything other than deep remorse about the outcome of this case.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.