ABORIGINAL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
Page: 2107
The Hon. ROBYN PARKER [9.39 p.m.]: Tonight I congratulate and thank members of the Parents Council of New South Wales on its recent presentation of awards for excellence to both individuals and groups of parents earlier this month. I attended the awards and was delighted to do so. The President of the Parents Council, Bill Nash, Sydney Vice-President Gail Giles-Gidney and Country Vice-President Robyn Christmas ran this event. I also acknowledge the fantastic work of Peter Bardos, a long-time parents council member who works tirelessly in a voluntary capacity. The Parents Council of New South Wales, which represents the parents of school students at non-government schools, started the awards this year as a way to recognise the achievements of parents and address the imbalance in the debate of public versus non-government education.
We have all heard debates on this particular issue for a number of years and all too often the myth is perpetrated that all non-government schools are wealthy, they are in wealthy suburbs and all the students have wealthy parents. This is not true. Many parents work tirelessly and make the sacrifices needed to send their child to a non-government school. It is the right of all parents to send their child to their school of choice. I met many parents and teachers at the recent awards night. Like many thousands of parents who give their time to make their school great in the public sector, parents from non-government schools do the same. Finalists for the individual award were Paul Gidley from Shore, Annie McNamara from St Ignatius College at Riverview, Shirley Mohen from Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College, Sharon O'Sullivan from Bishop Tyrell Anglican College, Kathleen Parker from Redfield College, Marilyn Pratley from Holy Name Primary School at Kelso and Maureen Sinclair from Shore.
The winner of the individual award for excellence was Marilyn Pratley, who has been involved with Holy Family Primary School for 28 years, which is in fact when the school first opened. Two finalists for the group award were Ignatius Children's Holiday Camp and Kinross Wolaroi Rowing Parents Support Group. The winner was the holiday camp, which offers parents of children with disabilities four days of respite, as well as a holiday for the children. The camp caters for children suffering from severe disabilities requiring feeding tubes to children with mild intellectual disabilities and behavioural disorders. Year 11 and year 12 students from St Ignatius Riverview, as well students from Loretto Normanhurst and Monte Sant' Angelo colleges, will be responsible for the care of participants. This year 80 boys and 120 girls applied for 30 and 16 positions respectively. A dozen camps around Australia have resulted from the original idea, which is absolutely fantastic. I congratulate those parents and the Parents Council of New South Wales on this wonderful initiative and their hard work.
I want to say a few words in response to the contribution by the Hon. Henry Tsang on child sexual abuse. I congratulate the Prime Minister and Mal Brough on their initiatives. They have undertaken those initiatives because the Northern Territory Government has taken too long to take action on child sexual abuse. The statistics are outrageous and I am confident that the Federal Government is doing the right thing. We are here to protect small children. It is not only Aboriginal perpetrators who are involved; there are a number of different perpetrators. As leaders, we should try to save those young children who are suffering, because this problem has been ignored for too long. The task force is going to the Northern Territory to engage with the local community and leaders across the board. It is supported by Noel Pearson and Kevin Rudd.
We also have a terrible situation in New South Wales. The Government initiated a report entitled "Breaking the Silence", which I have mentioned in the House before. The Government has shown an outrageous lack of response. To date, we have had seven days silence from the Minister, Paul Lynch. The report found that child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities is at epidemic proportions. A child in an Aboriginal community in New South Wales is four times more likely to suffer sexual abuse, yet the Government has taken no action. It responded almost in the dead of night, during the election campaign in January, with its recommendations, but it has taken no action and provided no money in the budget. There is no specific money in the New South Wales budget to address this problem—no line item, nothing at all. The Government says it has a $30 million package. Where is it? Child sexual abuse is not identified anywhere. It is a shame. New South Wales will end up in the same situation as the Northern Territory. The Government has recommendations. It should show the way forward, work with the local community, and talk about early intervention. The template is there. The Government ought to do something. [
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