Page 3397 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 17 August 2011
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“They didn’t write me enough letters to show how much they were interested.” We did not write to Ms Burch because Ms Burch is part of the problem. Remember, she was the one who went out there and talked about the naughty little buggers and told the staff that she was out there to cover her backside. She stuffed her fingers in her ears and said, “I don’t want to hear. La, la, la, la, la.” She is part of the problem, so why would we write to her? We brought the matters of our concern into the estimates process, into the annual reports process and into this place. Any reflection on the Hansard since 2009 in relation to Bimberi will show just how on the ball Mr Coe and I in particular, but my colleagues in general, have been in relation to Bimberi. Mr Coe led the charge.
Ms Burch: He’s never been out there.
MRS DUNNE: Mr Coe has been out there.
Ms Burch: Not since it has been operating.
MRS DUNNE: He has not been out there since it has been operating. We are reluctant to go out there while it is operational because it is impinging on the rights of the young people to go out there and be a voyeur into their living environment—in the same way that if you came into my home and looked into the state of my children’s bedrooms it would be an impingement upon their rights. Those children out there have the same rights as my children do. That is why I do not go out there at the drop of a hat with a media crew in tow because I do not want to exploit them the way this minister does. This minister has exploited people and she has overseen the exploitation of people out there.
Let us look at the case of Dave Cavill. Dave Cavill went to the minister, went to Minister Barr. He came to me and said, “I can’t understand it. I just want to do something for the kids out there, but when I raise issues of concern—almost immediately after I went to the Human Rights Commission and took my concerns to the Human Rights Commission, I lost my job.” When the Canberra Liberals raised this in this place Minister Burch said that she would guarantee that that would be dealt with in the inquiry and we did not have to worry about it.
When the inquiry was completed, I asked Dr Watchirs and Mr Roy what they did to look into the case of Mr Cavill. Mr Seselja and some of our staff were there at the time. We were told that they did not look into it, that there was another element of the human rights legislation that had been activated in that case and no-one could tell me anything about it. There had been an outcome, or there may have been an outcome, but I could not possibly know what it was. So much for openness and accountability and so much for standing up for people when all they wanted to do was stand up for the kids that they were trying to teach.
We have the case of the teacher who was outed and pilloried at the Murrumbidgee education centre because she raised concerns. What was her principal concern, Madam Assistant Speaker? Her principal concern was the high turnover of staff and that the kids were not getting the teaching they deserved because the staff were not there long enough to get to know the kids. I have spoken to a number of people, past
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