Worries Mount Over Government's Commitment to Child Protection Bill Provisions, Independent Senator Expresses Concerns
May 30, 2024
Independent Senator Andrew Mallalieu expresses concerns that the Government may not prioritize healthcare and education as outlined in the Child Protection Bill, citing a historical trend of neglecting these crucial areas.
Independent Senator Andrew Mallalieu is worried that Government may fail to deliver on the protections laid down in the Child Protection Bill as successive governments have not been making healthcare and education “priorities”.
As the Bill made its way to the Senate yesterday, Mallalieu said it seemed the country no longer gave pride of place to those two lynchpins from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Convention, on which the legislation is based.
“How I want to tie these two together, sir, is that when we choose priorities, and healthcare for our children, education for our children must be amongst our top priorities, if not number one and two . . . ,” Mallalieu said.
Mallalieu said he was not criticising the Bill, but was referring to “a systemic issue over multiple generations” as he went back to 1976 and said he saw a deterioration. (SAT)
