Page 2310 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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I want to add to what Mrs Dunne said and pay tribute to the people who work within DHCS. I also put my thanks on the record for the excellent work that they do. They are very dedicated in the work that they do. I am always impressed, when they appear before the health and disability committee or the estimates committee, by the fantastic work they do, much of it in very difficult areas. Mrs Dunne raised the area of care and protection. It is, unfortunately, in the news a lot, with events that are going on around Australia.
I note Dr Sue Packer’s comments this morning on Triple 6. She is the national president of NAPCAN and has a great deal of experience. Last year, I had the good fortune to meet with and hear from Dr Sue Packer. But what she said this morning on the radio was very pertinent—that this is an area which will always cause anxiety for our society. It is not an area that she believes is on the increase but it will always be a difficult area; there will always be some people who will have difficulty with parenting.
I know that is an issue that faces the people who work in the care and protection area on a daily basis. They would have been going through a difficult time in the last week, so I wanted to say that I think they do a fantastic job and we should continue to recognise that. I know that the people who work at the higher managerial levels of DHCS do recognise the work they do and they do everything they can to give them the support they need so that we can keep those workers. We heard at estimates that the strategies to keep those people in there are actually working.
Last year, I had the good fortune to hear Dr Sue Packer, when my husband, Brendan, and I went to an adoption and permanent care seminar in starting our process of looking to adopt; people in this place know that we are looking to do that. She was a very impressive person. Especially in the permanent care area, adoption and permanent care are combined, so the seminar was combined. We listened to the case studies within the permanent care setting, because you need to get an idea of what you are getting into. The case studies are based on real cases but there are no identifying features and they are often an amalgam of cases. But they are heart wrenching. The difficulties that some young parents—not necessarily all young parents—face in our society are very sad and heart wrenching. It is a vexed area and we need to give support to people who work in those areas.
Finally, I note that last night some comments were made by another member of this place about my behaviour in estimates. I am not going to lower myself by responding to those comments except to say that some people should really find better things to do with their time. But I would actually say—
Mrs Burke: You need to tell some on your side as well, because it works both ways.
MS MacDONALD: I did not interrupt you, Mrs Burke. During the estimates process, if I did not pay full attention throughout the entire time, I would point out that when other members of the committee and other members visiting the committee asked questions, even if it was not an area that I was particularly interested in, I did not interrupt by speaking so loudly that members could not hear the answers. And that
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