❓ Ms. Mettam questions the impact of closing the Methamphetamine Action Plan Taskforce on at-risk children, given a rise in monitored children in the South West. The Minister refutes the closure, highlights increased resources, and clarifies the meaning of 'monitored children' in child protection.
AnsweredQoN 460Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METHAMPHETAMINE ACTION
PLAN TASKFORCE — MONITORED CHILDREN
460. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
What impact will the Minister for Police's decision
to close down the Methamphetamine Action Plan Taskforce have on the number of
monitored children at risk from methamphetamine, given that we have already
seen a tripling of the number of monitored children in the south west under her
watch?
PLAN TASKFORCE — MONITORED CHILDREN
460. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
What impact will the Minister for Police's decision
to close down the Methamphetamine Action Plan Taskforce have on the number of
monitored children at risk from methamphetamine, given that we have already
seen a tripling of the number of monitored children in the south west under her
watch?
AnswerView source ↗
It is as if questions from the opposition were prepared
before question time and members from the other side have no capacity to adjust their questions depending on
what information has come to light. For instance, the first question in
question time came from the member for Hillarys, who asked about the abolition
of the meth action task force. I heard an interview on 6PR this morning that
clearly and unequivocally refuted that.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Hillarys! Calm him down,
member for South Perth.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Then the Minister for Police did
exactly the same in answer to that first question. Nevertheless, the member for
Vasse got up and asked what impact will the police's actions on a so-called
reduction in resources dedicated to combatting methamphetamine have on domestic
violence and child protection. Let us get one thing clear: there is no
reduction in effort by the WA Police Force to combat methamphetamine abuse or
use; it is quite the opposite. There are additional resources, and the Minister
for Police made that crystal clear to the member. If she needs more proof, she
should go back and listen to the audio from Gareth Parker this morning. The
acting commissioner was very clear about what additional resources have been
put in place to combat methamphetamine and other drug use in our community.
With regard to how we are combatting domestic violence, I am
quite happy to make clear to this house what we are doing as a government. We
took a range of commitments to the March 2017 election and we are meeting those
commitments. We have put $53 million of new money into combatting domestic
violence in this state. This is a significant investment around keeping women
safe, holding perpetrators to account, having our justice system responsive and
making sure that we are sending a clear and unequivocal message to our Western Australian
community that violence in any form is not acceptable. It is certainly not
acceptable to women and children. Last week during question time, we announced
the opening of the second Breathing Space, the perpetrator residential program.
The member also asked
about the number of monitored children under the child protection system in the
south west . Again, it has been explained to her numerous times in
answers to questions and during budget estimates hearings that the number of
children monitored in child protection means the number of children in the care
of the department who are settled, who are with carers, who are doing well and
who do not need active case management. That is a good thing in child
protection terms. I can explain it to the member again. It is a good thing that
they are settled, that they are with carers, that they are doing well and that
they are attending school.
We acknowledged that a range of issues have come up and a number
of incidents of harm reported and verified in child protection cases in the
south west. We acknowledged that in the estimates process, and I am happy to
verify those figures or to give the member those figures again. We have also
put extra resources into the south west region to accommodate that. There are
peaks and troughs with child protection cases at various times throughout the
state. The system that we have throughout the state makes sure that we allocate
staff to those district offices to meet that demand. I repeat that it is a good
thing that there are more monitored cases in the member's region
because it means that those children are settled and are doing well in their
placements.
before question time and members from the other side have no capacity to adjust their questions depending on
what information has come to light. For instance, the first question in
question time came from the member for Hillarys, who asked about the abolition
of the meth action task force. I heard an interview on 6PR this morning that
clearly and unequivocally refuted that.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Hillarys! Calm him down,
member for South Perth.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Then the Minister for Police did
exactly the same in answer to that first question. Nevertheless, the member for
Vasse got up and asked what impact will the police's actions on a so-called
reduction in resources dedicated to combatting methamphetamine have on domestic
violence and child protection. Let us get one thing clear: there is no
reduction in effort by the WA Police Force to combat methamphetamine abuse or
use; it is quite the opposite. There are additional resources, and the Minister
for Police made that crystal clear to the member. If she needs more proof, she
should go back and listen to the audio from Gareth Parker this morning. The
acting commissioner was very clear about what additional resources have been
put in place to combat methamphetamine and other drug use in our community.
With regard to how we are combatting domestic violence, I am
quite happy to make clear to this house what we are doing as a government. We
took a range of commitments to the March 2017 election and we are meeting those
commitments. We have put $53 million of new money into combatting domestic
violence in this state. This is a significant investment around keeping women
safe, holding perpetrators to account, having our justice system responsive and
making sure that we are sending a clear and unequivocal message to our Western Australian
community that violence in any form is not acceptable. It is certainly not
acceptable to women and children. Last week during question time, we announced
the opening of the second Breathing Space, the perpetrator residential program.
The member also asked
about the number of monitored children under the child protection system in the
south west . Again, it has been explained to her numerous times in
answers to questions and during budget estimates hearings that the number of
children monitored in child protection means the number of children in the care
of the department who are settled, who are with carers, who are doing well and
who do not need active case management. That is a good thing in child
protection terms. I can explain it to the member again. It is a good thing that
they are settled, that they are with carers, that they are doing well and that
they are attending school.
We acknowledged that a range of issues have come up and a number
of incidents of harm reported and verified in child protection cases in the
south west. We acknowledged that in the estimates process, and I am happy to
verify those figures or to give the member those figures again. We have also
put extra resources into the south west region to accommodate that. There are
peaks and troughs with child protection cases at various times throughout the
state. The system that we have throughout the state makes sure that we allocate
staff to those district offices to meet that demand. I repeat that it is a good
thing that there are more monitored cases in the member's region
because it means that those children are settled and are doing well in their
placements.
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.