Minister urges Liberal Party to see the light on child protection.

2/11/06
Community Development Minister David Templeman said Liberal Legislative Council members had today embarrassed their Lower House colleagues but could redeem themselves by passing the Government's Responsible Parenting Initiative Bill in its current form.
Mr Templeman said Liberal MLCs would have a golden opportunity when the Bill was debated to prove to the community that they were not just paying lip-service on the important issue of protecting and supporting children and families.
The Minister also urged the Liberal members of the Legislative Assembly, who last year enthusiastically passed the Bill, to talk some sense into their Upper House colleagues and encourage them to guarantee passage of this important initiative.
On November 30 2005, the Legislative Council referred the Parental Support and Responsibility Bill 2005 to the Standing Committee on Legislation for inquiry and report. The committee this morning tabled their report.
"The Liberals, in the first real test in the Parliament of their commitment to child protection and related criminal matters, have shown themselves to be soft on crime and weak on child protection," Mr Templeman said.
"It would appear they are spineless and do not have the courage of their convictions."

The Minister said the Government would persist with the Bill in the hope that the Liberal Party would see the light.
The Liberal MLCs opposed the introduction under the Parental Support and Responsibility Bill 2005 of Responsible Parenting Orders.
"Responsible Parenting Orders involve cases where parents have repeatedly failed to control their children who have engaged in anti-social behaviour such as truanting from school, posing a risk to or actually harming other children or adults or damaging property," Mr Templeman said.
"Responsible Parenting Orders allow courts to direct parents to engage with support services, and if they fail to do so, the courts may impose fines.
"The Responsible Parenting Initiative and this Bill are about intervening early to prevent crime and harm to children by giving support to parents, including mandatory parental support."
The orders are a last resort under the initiative, which focuses on voluntary agreements with parents gaining access to support including counselling, training and resources.
"The Carpenter Government is committed to the protection of children and young people in this State and the actions of the Liberal Party today have shown that they are all talk and no action," the Minister said.
Minister's office - 9220 5050