Strengthening our child protection systems

Today Abigail supported amendments to our child protection systems, making note that ongoing genuine consultation with community stakeholders is essential at every step.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (16:14): On behalf of The Greens, I speak in support of the Children's Guardian Amendment Bill 2022 and the Child Protection (Working with Children) Amendment Bill 2022. The necessary amendments in the bills complement the reforms to the Children's Guardian actioned in 2019, which responded to the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Greens have long supported an overhaul and a reform to our child protection systems, which for too long have failed to adequately serve the interests of all children in our State. The proposed amendments to the Children's Guardian Act will ensure a more consistent framework for service providers, including those providing out‑of‑home care, adoption and respite care.

In particular, The Greens welcome the moving of accreditation provision from regulation into primary legislation as a part of the streamlining process. The Greens welcome the implementation of a national reference system, which will allow necessary information to be shared across jurisdictions to protect children and prevent further abuse in the system. Corresponding legislation is already in place across the majority of jurisdictions in Australia. The model has long been supported by stakeholders and follows the recommendations of the royal commission. It is important to ensure that the system is put in place carefully, with particular focus given to circumstances concerning child sexual abuse.

Several non-government organisations have been integral in pushing for urgent reform to our child protection systems over the past 10 years, including Barnardos, Fams, the Association of Children's Welfare Agencies, the Public Service Association, Samaritans, the Australian Services Union, Youth Action, and Grandmothers Against Removals. Further and ongoing consultation at every step is vital to ensure that the scope of our child protection laws and regulations are comprehensive and serve the interests of all children in our State, particularly those who are most vulnerable and too often slip through the cracks.

Abigail later spoke in support of Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst's amendment to include individuals with bestiality and animal crush material convictions are included as a the disqualifying offence for working with children in our state and interstate.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (16:28): On behalf of The Greens, I support the Animal Justice Party amendment. The connection between perpetrators who produce bestiality and animal crush material and child abusers is significant and has been studied by expert stakeholders. There is evidence to indicate that those who have been discovered as possessing bestiality videos have on many occasions also been charged with possession of child abuse material. This amendment will ensure that the national reference system will be as comprehensive as possible by including within the provisions for a disqualifying offence a clause concerning individuals who have been previously charged with the production or dissemination of bestiality or animal crush material. By doing so, we can ensure that people who have already been charged with animal abuse offences are prevented from going on to commit further violent acts of child abuse.

The amendment was supported by the majority of MPs in the House and passed successfully.

The full transcript can be found here.

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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Strengthening our child protection systems

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

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