❓ Question regarding the Premier's confidence in the Minister for Education's ability to protect students from radicalisation following a knife attack at Rossmoyne Senior High School. The Premier defends the Minister and highlights actions taken.
AnsweredQoN 259Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
KNIFE ATTACK —
WILLETTON — ROSSMOYNE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
259. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
After the weekend's
shocking events, Western Australian families have arrived at public schools
with police positioned at the front gate. We now know that the Minister for
Education was made aware, by parents, in April of possible extremism at
Rossmoyne Senior High School. The minister failed to act. Does the Premier
maintain confidence in the Minister for Education's ability to keep Western
Australian students safe from radicalisation?
WILLETTON — ROSSMOYNE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
259. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
After the weekend's
shocking events, Western Australian families have arrived at public schools
with police positioned at the front gate. We now know that the Minister for
Education was made aware, by parents, in April of possible extremism at
Rossmoyne Senior High School. The minister failed to act. Does the Premier
maintain confidence in the Minister for Education's ability to keep Western
Australian students safe from radicalisation?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question
as it gives me an opportunity to do what I did in my brief ministerial
statement and say that there was a horrific incident on the weekend and we are
indebted to the Western Australian police for the speediness with which they
responded to that episode. We are in the fortunate position of acknowledging
that just one member of the community was hurt in that incident and that the
police were able to get the situation under control, having arrived on the
scene inside three minutes to arrest the situation, albeit with the loss of
life. I think the heart of every Western Australian goes out to the family and
community impacted by this horrific event. I echo those sentiments today.
This was a dreadful circumstance in
which a young man was caught in the insidious bind of online misinformation,
leading to his radicalisation, and that combined with a range of other complex
issues that were impacting on his life. It was a horrific incident. As I said,
there are indications that the youth was radicalised online, and, at this
stage, it is understood that he acted alone. I would like to thank members of
the Muslim community who contacted police
with their concerns. As I reported earlier, I was able to meet with members of
the multifaith community to really thank them for their efforts in continuing
to promote Western Australia and our community as a place of peace and
very, very safe. Community leaders everywhere take the opportunity to lead
their community with those values in mind, making sure that they do not peddle
misinformation and that people understand that Western Australia is an
inclusive community in which everyone feels they belong.
WA
police have investigated reported online threats in relation to the
metropolitan high school, and the investigation identified that the
threats were vexatious and were not made by the person who appeared to be the
sender. The police do not have any concerns for the safety of students and the
broader community, and they continue to work with the Department of Education to
identify the source of the messages. The school community has been informed
that there are no safety concerns and that various supports are in place for
parents and students if needed. The presence of police at the school today was
to further reassure the community that they are safe and that the police have
the situation under control. To the best of their investigative assessments,
this student acted alone and there is no further danger to the community.
It is important that we, as
community leaders, take the opportunity to reassure the community in relation
to these incidents and not further fuel anxiety or add to the misinformation
that is out there. The Minister for Education did absolutely the right thing;
when that correspondence was received, he referred it immediately to the
Department of Education so that it could
further support that student as part of his deradicalisation process. As we
have observed, he was part of that process for the last two years, and
to that extent we wish that it had managed his increasingly extremist thoughts.
We all have a responsibility in this place—that is, to make sure that
we do everything we can to not add unnecessarily to anxiety in the community.
We all have a responsibility to make sure that we are not part of the misinformation train that has been
going on in our community to date. People out there are doing harmful things by trying to whip up negative sentiment about other religions or peddle
misinformation to further increase anxiety. If we have no other role in this
place, it is to make sure that we are not part of that insidious process. I was
particularly concerned to hear that some members opposite are doing the exact
opposite of what the Commissioner of Police, Col Blanch, asked leaders in the
community to do, and the exact opposite of what the multifaith leaders were
doing on Sunday when they went back to their communities. We need to keep
reminding people that Perth in particular, and Western Australia as a whole, is
one of the safest places and one of the safest communities on Earth.
The member for Vasse, the Leader of
the Liberal Party, said —
''We have an incident where a 16-year-old
who had been in a deradicalisation program had been involved in creating a homemade
bomb which had destroyed a toilet block.
That is false, Madam Speaker. Two years ago, a school stunt
led to some students misbehaving in the toilets. There was never a bomb.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : There was no
damage to any school property. There was a stunt by some 14-year-old students— I suspect not the first or last time we will see
that happen in any high school anywhere. The stunt did bring the student to the attention of police and was part of the reason that he went into the
countering violent extremism program, but it was false to claim that, and the
Leader of the Liberal Party knows that it was false.
The Leader of the Liberal Party also
said —
''It is appalling to hear this
government had repeatedly fobbed off this very real concerns of parents from
this school community.''
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : That was false.
From a very simple reflection on the media commentary, the Leader of the
Liberal Party knows that it is false, but she chose to be part of the
misinformation that began with the Liberal Party candidate for Riverton and has
continued to exacerbate anxiety in the community.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members!
Mr R.H. COOK : The Leader of
the Liberal Party also said that the young man involved —
� had plans to interrupt an assembly
in the most devastating of ways and had been able to continue to learn in a public
mainstream school.
That is also false. There is no
evidence that he planned or had indicated that he planned to do anything of the
sort.
Now is the time for leaders of the
community, including all members of Parliament, to conduct themselves as civil
human beings, to be proper, upstanding members of the community and to not
unnecessarily add to the anxiety. Above all else, they should not peddle
misinformation in our community.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Mr R.H. COOK : The events that
occurred on the weekend were horrific. We are indebted to the fact that today
we are just reflecting on a single person having been injured in a very
traumatic set of circumstances, not reflecting on a greater loss of life and
injury. That is down to the great work of the Western Australia Police Force
and the terrific work and support that the Department of Education provided
this young man, albeit something simply went wrong
and he acted out some of his thoughts. Now is the time for the community to
stand together. Now is the time for the community to condemn violence to
make sure that people in the community feel safe—because they are—and
to make sure that we do not see misinformation peddled in our community. For
that reason, the Leader of the Liberal Party stands condemned.
as it gives me an opportunity to do what I did in my brief ministerial
statement and say that there was a horrific incident on the weekend and we are
indebted to the Western Australian police for the speediness with which they
responded to that episode. We are in the fortunate position of acknowledging
that just one member of the community was hurt in that incident and that the
police were able to get the situation under control, having arrived on the
scene inside three minutes to arrest the situation, albeit with the loss of
life. I think the heart of every Western Australian goes out to the family and
community impacted by this horrific event. I echo those sentiments today.
This was a dreadful circumstance in
which a young man was caught in the insidious bind of online misinformation,
leading to his radicalisation, and that combined with a range of other complex
issues that were impacting on his life. It was a horrific incident. As I said,
there are indications that the youth was radicalised online, and, at this
stage, it is understood that he acted alone. I would like to thank members of
the Muslim community who contacted police
with their concerns. As I reported earlier, I was able to meet with members of
the multifaith community to really thank them for their efforts in continuing
to promote Western Australia and our community as a place of peace and
very, very safe. Community leaders everywhere take the opportunity to lead
their community with those values in mind, making sure that they do not peddle
misinformation and that people understand that Western Australia is an
inclusive community in which everyone feels they belong.
WA
police have investigated reported online threats in relation to the
metropolitan high school, and the investigation identified that the
threats were vexatious and were not made by the person who appeared to be the
sender. The police do not have any concerns for the safety of students and the
broader community, and they continue to work with the Department of Education to
identify the source of the messages. The school community has been informed
that there are no safety concerns and that various supports are in place for
parents and students if needed. The presence of police at the school today was
to further reassure the community that they are safe and that the police have
the situation under control. To the best of their investigative assessments,
this student acted alone and there is no further danger to the community.
It is important that we, as
community leaders, take the opportunity to reassure the community in relation
to these incidents and not further fuel anxiety or add to the misinformation
that is out there. The Minister for Education did absolutely the right thing;
when that correspondence was received, he referred it immediately to the
Department of Education so that it could
further support that student as part of his deradicalisation process. As we
have observed, he was part of that process for the last two years, and
to that extent we wish that it had managed his increasingly extremist thoughts.
We all have a responsibility in this place—that is, to make sure that
we do everything we can to not add unnecessarily to anxiety in the community.
We all have a responsibility to make sure that we are not part of the misinformation train that has been
going on in our community to date. People out there are doing harmful things by trying to whip up negative sentiment about other religions or peddle
misinformation to further increase anxiety. If we have no other role in this
place, it is to make sure that we are not part of that insidious process. I was
particularly concerned to hear that some members opposite are doing the exact
opposite of what the Commissioner of Police, Col Blanch, asked leaders in the
community to do, and the exact opposite of what the multifaith leaders were
doing on Sunday when they went back to their communities. We need to keep
reminding people that Perth in particular, and Western Australia as a whole, is
one of the safest places and one of the safest communities on Earth.
The member for Vasse, the Leader of
the Liberal Party, said —
''We have an incident where a 16-year-old
who had been in a deradicalisation program had been involved in creating a homemade
bomb which had destroyed a toilet block.
That is false, Madam Speaker. Two years ago, a school stunt
led to some students misbehaving in the toilets. There was never a bomb.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : There was no
damage to any school property. There was a stunt by some 14-year-old students— I suspect not the first or last time we will see
that happen in any high school anywhere. The stunt did bring the student to the attention of police and was part of the reason that he went into the
countering violent extremism program, but it was false to claim that, and the
Leader of the Liberal Party knows that it was false.
The Leader of the Liberal Party also
said —
''It is appalling to hear this
government had repeatedly fobbed off this very real concerns of parents from
this school community.''
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : That was false.
From a very simple reflection on the media commentary, the Leader of the
Liberal Party knows that it is false, but she chose to be part of the
misinformation that began with the Liberal Party candidate for Riverton and has
continued to exacerbate anxiety in the community.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members!
Mr R.H. COOK : The Leader of
the Liberal Party also said that the young man involved —
� had plans to interrupt an assembly
in the most devastating of ways and had been able to continue to learn in a public
mainstream school.
That is also false. There is no
evidence that he planned or had indicated that he planned to do anything of the
sort.
Now is the time for leaders of the
community, including all members of Parliament, to conduct themselves as civil
human beings, to be proper, upstanding members of the community and to not
unnecessarily add to the anxiety. Above all else, they should not peddle
misinformation in our community.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Mr R.H. COOK : The events that
occurred on the weekend were horrific. We are indebted to the fact that today
we are just reflecting on a single person having been injured in a very
traumatic set of circumstances, not reflecting on a greater loss of life and
injury. That is down to the great work of the Western Australia Police Force
and the terrific work and support that the Department of Education provided
this young man, albeit something simply went wrong
and he acted out some of his thoughts. Now is the time for the community to
stand together. Now is the time for the community to condemn violence to
make sure that people in the community feel safe—because they are—and
to make sure that we do not see misinformation peddled in our community. For
that reason, the Leader of the Liberal Party stands condemned.
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