CHILDREN (PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY) BILL
SUMMARY OFFENCES AND OTHER LEGISLATION (GRAFFITI) AMENDMENT BILL
Second Reading
Debate resumed from 30 November.
Mr GIBSON (Londonderry) [4.08]: As members from both sides of the House have said, something had to be done about this issue. If a young person of five, six or seven years of age gets into trouble it is difficult for the police to arrest him or her. Somewhere along the line parents must take the responsibility of looking after their children. I have no trouble with that suggestion, but I do have trouble with the question of who decides what happens in such cases. Everyone has a right to expect to live in peace and harmony. My electorate has experienced gangs of young children roaming around, without parental control, terrorising older folk. People who do not know what is going on out there would be as horrified as I am if they were made aware of the real situation.
The most spectacular block of units to have been built in the western suburbs of Sydney has recently been opened at Lethbridge Park. People living on the north shore, or any part of the State for that matter, would be proud to have them in their area. Those of us living in western Sydney are certainly proud of them. The Department of Housing in western Sydney decided to accommodate aged pensioners and invalid pensioners in those units. One can imagine the tremendous joy of the those who moved into those units some four or five weeks ago. They are people who have never had too much in life, but now all of a sudden they are moved into brand new homes. Unfortunately, however, those people have been subjected to attack after attack since moving in to their new homes.
After hearing of their concerns from the people who lived there, I went to the area one night to see what they were talking about. I was amazed to find gangs of people attacking these older folk and invalid pensioners in this part of western Sydney. These residents were worried because fences around the units were pulled down, windows were broken, pot plants were thrown through windows of the units and things were stolen from their surrounds. They had no comeback. When they rang the police, on many occasions police could not attend because they were busy and had to work on a priority basis.
When I visited the area I found that the average age of the young people who were attacking these older people was between five and seven years. I grabbed some of them and tried to talk to them in an attempt to find out what motivated them. I am sure they are not bad children; they seemed to be doing it out of boredom, and that worried me more than anything. If they did it to hurt people or in the course of a criminal act, that would be one problem; but the problem is greater when they do it out of sheer
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boredom. After talking to the police I realise there is no solution to the problem. If police pick up a child of three to six years of age they cannot charge the child with anything. Police are looking for a solution, and the bill provides it because it makes the parents responsible for their children in many cases. I do not see this as bad legislation; I support it, particularly with the amendments that will be moved. I am certain that these children will turn out better because of it.
Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Hartcher.