Additional Statement by Senator Andrew Bartlett
The protection of whistleblowers and the integrity of our political and
public systems has long been a key concern for me and for the Australian
Democrats. The actions of government must be accountable and our accountability
and review mechanisms must be the subject of review themselves. Senate inquiries into matters such as the
Lindeberg Grievance are important for that reason, even if in this case, the
findings are not conclusive. The process of opening up our public institutions,
inquiring into whether there has been a miscarriage of justice and seeking the
evidence is as important as the findings themselves.
As well as participating in this Inquiry, I have a long-standing
exposure to the issues examined by this inquiry. At the time of the two Senate
Select Committees on whistleblower issues, I was on the staff of Senator John
Woodley, who was a member of both of those Inquiries, and I followed much of
the evidence at that time. Based on the evidence before this and previous
inquiries, it is my view that the decision to order the shredding of the
documents in question was clearly wrong. However, this is a separate matter to
the focus of this Inquiry, which predominantly dealt with the matters of contempt
of the Senate. On these matters, I agree with the findings of the report.
I wish to make these additional comments because the opportunity should
not be missed to emphasise the seriousness of child sexual and physical abuse
and the widespread failure of Governments at both state and federal level to
recognise that seriousness.
This matter is raised in the second term of reference of the
Inquiry. However, for reasons which the
report outlines, these were not able to be dealt with by the inquiry and, as a
result, in the findings.
Term (b) the implications
of this matter for measures which should be taken:
...
(ii) in relation to the
protection of children from abuse
Mr Lindeberg has
brought these new allegations because of concerns that evidence about child
abuse including pack-rape and criminal paedophilia was withheld from the Senate
in previous inquiries. Whilst the report acknowledges disturbing information
about child abuse at John Oxley Youth Centre (JOYC), given that the main focus
of the Inquiry was around the narrow matter of contempt and that almost all the
evidence focussed on this, it was not appropriate to make recommendations
regarding measures that can be taken to protect children from abuse.
The fact that it was
not feasible for the Inquiry to address the issue of child abuse in any depth
should not be misrepresented as a lack of interest by the Committee in this
issue. Whilst it was asserted that a main reason for the shredding of the
documents was to cover up the sexual assault of a young girl, there is
insufficient evidence to determine if there is any substance to this.
The document
shredding which generated the long saga covered by this and previous Senate
Committee reports may not have had anything to do with a desire to cover up evidence
of child sexual assault. It is only because of the pursuit of this saga over so
long that the incidents of assault came to light, along with the total failure
to properly address it. Sadly, one reason why it is possible there was no
intention to cover up this incident is because incidents such as the sexual
assault of a young girl in state care are so common and unremarkable that it
might not merit sufficient individual attention to warrant such an act. Incidents
such as those alleged to have occurred have regularly been ignored or dealt
with in a peremptory manner in the past without the need to involve Cabinets in
document shredding.
I have previously
called for a Royal Commission into Child Abuse to heal victims’ suffering and
impose adequate standards on all institutions that care for children. This call
has also been regularly made by other Australian Democrat Senators and other
advocates in the community. A Royal Commission would provide a major
opportunity to investigate the actions of the past, protect children in the
future, and assist victims and families to move forward. Such a Commission
could include instances of abuse at JOYC and other institutions.
Only a Royal Commission provides the real
prospect of addressing the issues that need to be dealt with in a comprehensive
way, across all states and all different organisations - government and
non-government - that have failed so terribly and continually over so many
years.
The fact that delving into this matter has
uncovered allegations of very serious child abuse provides yet another clear
argument for a Royal Commission to enable all these matters to be properly
dealt with once and for all.
Senator
Andrew Bartlett
Australian
Democrats