Premier in denial over child crisis

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended her Government’s record on child safety, denying the system is in crisis despite calls for a review into a Gold Coast case.

A Bulletin report yesterday said family members wanted an independent review into the Child Safety department after twin babies on the department’s watch were allegedly assaulted.

One of the twins was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital on July 11 with severe head injuries. Her twin brother also had a head injury. The children

were monitored by the Nerang and Mermaid Beach Child Safety where staff have been under pressure and resourcing questioned by LNP MP Ros Bates.

At estimates hearings in State Parliament in Brisbane yesterday, Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington grilled the Premier about Labor’s track record on protecting children under the care of the department.

Ms Frecklington tabled the Queensland Family and Child Commission annual report, which found four of five child deaths in Queensland from assaults involved children under child protection.

The Premier said any death of a child was “an absolute tragedy”, but her Government had been restoring frontline services slashed under the former Newman government.

She said the latest data showed the number of cases per child care worker had dropped from 20 in March 2014 to 18 in March this year. The Government was spending a record $200 million in the next four years on improving frontline services, the largest funding boost in a decade, the Premier said.

“There is nothing more important than looking after the children in this state,” she said.

Ms Frecklington asked the Premier if her office was consulted about tabling the commission’s report “five months and 12 days after it landed on your desk”.

Ms Palaszczuk said she would need to seek clarification before giving an answer because the report was handled by the Attorney-General’s office.

Ms Frecklington asked the Premier if she would “concede that your Government is presiding over a child safety system in crisis”.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Queensland Family and Child Commissioner Cheryl Vardon had said the system was not in crisis.

Ms Vardon in 2016 said the state’s child safety system was “certainly not one in crisis” but there was “still room for improvement”.

“As I’ve said very clearly, we are restoring the services that have been cut,” Ms Palaszczuk said yesterday.

“We have seen now with the increase in child safety officers, the pressures on case loads are coming down.”

NOTHING to see here. Move on, move on.

This was the tone of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday when she fronted an Estimates Committee hearing and in response to a question from Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington, denied any crisis exists in Queensland’s child safety system.

Come again? The Premier was either in denial or attempting to play Queenslanders for fools.

With a front page headline that screamed “Twin tragedy’’, the Bulletin on Saturday reported the dreadful case of twin babies who were injured – with one having been placed in intensive care with severe head injuries – even though their parents were under the watch of Child Safety officers. We warned it was just the tip of an iceberg, listing cases in which children were left in or returned to families and situations in which they were at risk.

The Bulletin called for an inquiry into the dangers that threaten children whose lives have little joy and the failure of state agencies to protect them.

We do not back away from that, despite Ms Palaszczuk’s defence yesterday of the Government’s record.

We maintain a public hearing must be held into the case of the twins and all the other cases so Queenslanders know what went wrong and what can be done.

Staffing shortages must be looked at in detail so that cracks that allow vulnerable little kids to slip below sight in the system are sealed. An inquiry must have the powers to subpoena suspects and witnesses from families, schools, doctors and importantly government departments.

The Queensland Family and Child Commission annual report, tabled by Ms Frecklington as she questioned the Premier yesterday, added weight to our call. It said four of five deaths of children from assaults involved kids “under child protection’’.