Parliament

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (12:12): I rise to support the Premier's motion. Tragically, Friday 15 March 2019 will be indelibly imprinted on the minds of those in our sister city of Christchurch in New Zealand and the world. Through the hatred of one man, at least 50 people have lost their life and countless others have had theirs changed forever. Those directly impacted were simply attending communal prayer in their place of worship, engaging in peaceful reflection with God.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (12:38): I rise to speak on the Criminal Law Consolidation (Foster Parents and Other Positions of Authority) Amendment Bill 2018. This bill is yet another way the Liberal government is both tidying up legislative drafting oversights dating back to 2017 and strengthening the law relating to offences against children in care. I commend the Attorney-General for bringing the bill to this place, and I commend the opposition for their support. This bill seeks to make two amendments. The first is to clarify the definition of the phrase 'foster-parent'. The second is to include as a category of 'position of authority' a person employed or providing services in licensed children's residential care facilities.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (17:23): I rise to speak on the Statutes Amendment (Child Exploitation and Encrypted Material) Bill 2018 and commend the Attorney-General for bringing back to this place the bill that was introduced but not passed by the former government.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (11:17): I thank the member for Reynell for her motion on what is a serious blight on society and one that significantly impacts my portfolio as Minister for Child Protection. On 25 November 1960, three sisters—Patria, Minerva and Maria-Teresa Mirabal—of the Dominican Republic were murdered. The sisters were engaged in political activism and opposed the regime of the then president. On the day that they were killed, they were travelling in a vehicle to see two of their husbands, who were incarcerated. The vehicle was stopped by henchmen, linked to the president, who strangled and clubbed the sisters to death before driving their vehicle off the road in order to make their murders appear an accident.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (16:40): I rise in support of the member for Florey's motion. In 1893, 125 years ago, New Zealand's Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new electoral act into law. This led to New Zealand becoming the first self-governing country in the world to give women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

The Legislative Council agreed to the bill with the amendment indicated by the following schedule, to which amendment the Legislative Council desires the concurrence of the House of Assembly:

No. 1. Clause 6, page 3, lines 22 to 34—Leave out the clause.

Consideration in committee.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (19:56): I would like to first thank the member for Badcoe for her words and for her cooperation and understanding of the need that we have to get the bill through the house quickly, ready for 22 October for its full enactment. As noted, these changes really are rats and mice. It is drafting errors, improvements or transitional changes that are required for the bill to be workable and to protect our children in the way it was intended.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (12:38): I rise to speak on the National Redress Scheme for victims of institutional child sexual abuse bill 2018. I commend both the Premier and the Attorney-General for formally opting into the National Redress Scheme on behalf of South Australia in May of this year.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: I rise to correct a series of inaccurate statements that have been made in the media today regarding a visit I undertook to a residential care facility for children in state care in my capacity as the Minister for Child Protection. This morning, the member for Badcoe told ABC radio:

Various sources have told me that the minister was repeatedly advised that it wasn't a good idea to go into this residential care facility.

I can inform the house that I did not receive any advice from my department that I should not visit this facility.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (11:12): I rise to support this very important motion to recognise the 10^th anniversary of the formal apology offered by the government of South Australia to children abused in state care. At the time of the apology 10 years ago, it was widely acknowledged that the importance of an apology should not and could not be underestimated, and that is still very true today.