Page 2682 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 28 June 2011
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there was nothing wrong, that there was nothing to see here—“Move along.” The Canberra Liberals persisted.
As a result of our persistence there are now a range of things that are happening which are being rattled off like a litany by Ms Burch. But we are actually seeing things that should have already happened. She is almost acquiring to herself the initiative: “We are doing a whole lot of things, including having a human rights inquiry.” We are having an inquiry into Bimberi because the Canberra Liberals pushed for it on behalf of the young people and the staff.
All of these things are happening because of the persistence of the Canberra Liberals. It does not do anything for Ms Burch’s reputation that she will now take on the initiatives of the Canberra Liberals as if they were her own. She was the most reluctant person in this chamber to address these issues. She was reluctant to deal with them in public; she was reluctant to deal with them with the staff when she visited the Bimberi youth detention centre. Her behaviour at that time, which she denies but nobody else does, shows just how reluctant she was to deal with these issues.
This report is welcome, but I do put on the record that there is little in this report that should not already have been happening at a well-run youth detention centre. To tell us, for instance, that as of June this year we have two tutors to help with literacy in the classroom is just astounding. We have seen, time and again, evidence that the young people who are detained at the Bimberi youth detention centre tend to have lower than average IQs. As a result of this, and the research that indicates that young people with lower than average IQs have difficulty processing information, and have inbuilt difficulties with literacy and numeracy—these children, these young people, were essentially children who had a disability and who should have been treated as such in the education system. But they were not being treated as such in the education system until we drew these matters to the attention of the Assembly.
It is only through the persistent and ongoing questioning by Mr Coe, me and other members of the Legislative Assembly that we are here today. Ms Burch sits there and shakes her head in disbelief. She should hang her head in shame that we can now triumphantly report, 2½ years after Bimberi opened as a youth detention centre, that we are finally getting literacy tutors into the classroom.
In the same way, the last time Minister Burch made a statement here, she said, “We have got a new art teacher, a new woodwork teacher and a new metalwork teacher.” You had either sacked or driven away the previous woodwork teacher and the previous art teacher, people who were committed to working in the system, who wanted to work with these vulnerable young people. You drove them away.
It is very interesting to see the changes and the approaches. I take great pride, on behalf of my colleagues, that the changes, the approaches and the improvements in Bimberi are as a result of our persistent questioning. Nothing would have happened if Joy Burch and her predecessors had been left to themselves. These matters were raised by the staff. They were ignored by the minister—ignored and ignored successively. It was only through raising these matters in this place and in public arenas, asking the questions in estimates and in annual report hearings, that we have actually got to a stage where there are some changes happening.
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