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weekly hansard - Queensland Parliament - Queensland Government

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23 Aug 2005 Child Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2629<br />

account of many of the things that she has been saying for a good long time. I join the honourable<br />

member in recognising that the time is not too far away when we will surely see systems whereby<br />

indirect recycled potable water is part of our <strong>Queensland</strong> water supply. Of course, we have that already.<br />

Communities that take water from water sources downstream are using some water that has already<br />

been recycled through outfalls that are often further upstream. Doing this more deliberately and via a<br />

large body of water such as a dam will undoubtedly be necessary.<br />

I take this opportunity to also congratulate Mayor Di Thorley on her tremendous courage and<br />

absolute determination to ensure that residents of Toowoomba and the broader area will have a good<br />

potable water supply in the years to come, despite the predictions of a drier area due to climate change.<br />

She has been unreasonably criticised by many, rather than recognised for her courage and her<br />

leadership.<br />

As I bring this to a close, I thank all of those who have worked for quite a long time on this bill. A<br />

lot of detail needs to be addressed to balance the interests of local government and health and to, at the<br />

same time, make sure that the system is going to be workable and as affordable as it can be. I<br />

particularly thank the managing director of Building Codes <strong>Queensland</strong> in the department of local<br />

government and planning, Mr Ain Kuru. He has led this program and many other programs in the<br />

department. I thank him for his leadership, his determination and his good advice. On occasion he has<br />

even needed to redirect my thinking in an appropriate direction, as it were, when I have not been clear.<br />

Unfortunately, he has decided that now it is the time for change. He is moving to another position, still<br />

connected to local government but not in Building Codes <strong>Queensland</strong>. He will be sorely missed. I<br />

recognise his need for change, and I thank him. He has been a great asset to me as minister for local<br />

government over these last 15 months or more.<br />

I thank all others who have worked on the grey water systems and on the plumbing and drainage<br />

bill before the House tonight. The work of Local <strong>Government</strong> and Planning has been supplemented—<br />

value has been added—by the Environmental Protection Agency. This is another example of the<br />

benefits of having Local <strong>Government</strong> and Environment working together. I commend the bill to the<br />

House.<br />

Motion agreed to.<br />

Consideration in Detail<br />

Clauses 1 to 48, as read, agreed to.<br />

Bill read a third time.<br />

Third Reading<br />

CHILD SAFETY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL<br />

Second Reading<br />

Resumed from 24 May (see p. 1568).<br />

Mrs MENKENS (Burdekin—NPA) (8.12 pm): I rise to present the opposition’s position in relation<br />

to the Child Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2005. This bill before the House is the third tranche of<br />

legislation in response to the recommendations of the Crime and Misconduct Commission’s Protecting<br />

Children report. In commencing on this legislation, it is important to put the foster care report into<br />

perspective because this is a matter that the minister avoided in his second reading speech.<br />

I need to remind this House that the inquiry came about because of information released to the<br />

media by the Leader of the Opposition in 2003 which proved that foster-children had been suffering<br />

ongoing abuse with the knowledge of the department of family services over many years. It is important<br />

to realise that this information came to light despite the existence of the Commissioner for Children and<br />

Young People and Child Guardian and the provision of specific legislative provisions that were<br />

continually ignored by the then minister for families. The public record will show that the Premier and the<br />

minister resisted calling an inquiry until the evidence produced by the opposition and the media made<br />

that position untenable.<br />

I would also like to remind the House that the QPSU had also been warning the government that<br />

the department was failing because of case workers being inundated with files to the extent that the<br />

system became dysfunctional. Unfortunately, again, the minister at the time failed to respond to these<br />

concerns and continually refused to provide to this parliament information requested by the opposition<br />

regarding case loads. I regret to advise the House that, unfortunately, this is the same position now<br />

being taken by the current minister. I would refer those with a real interest in child safety and not spin to<br />

read the proceedings of Estimates Committee B.

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