Thursday, 7 September 2017

· After months of secrecy, Labor finally releases three critical reports in one day into child safety, foster care and blue cards

· Reports recommend at least another 21 reviews take place

· Queenslanders deserve better than a Labor Government more interested in clinging to power than fixing our broken child safety systems

Annastacia Palaszczuk has today finally publicly released the findings of three reviews into life and death matters for Queensland children in care.

LNP Shadow Minister for Child Safety Ros Bates said the release of the reports months after their completion showed a disgraceful disregard for the critical issues facing children in care in Queensland.

“Following the tragic deaths of Mason Jett Lee, Tialeigh Palmer, Maddilyn-Rose Stokes and other Queensland children in care, Queenslanders deserve to know what’s going wrong in our child safety system,” Ms Bates said.

“Instead, Labor sits on these reports for months and then releases three in one day to avoid proper scrutiny of the life and death issues they have investigated.

“This from a Labor Government that consistently and falsely trades on its openness and transparency.

“Why weren’t these crucial reports released for public scrutiny as soon as they were completed so that the glaring problems in our child safety, foster care and blue card systems could be fixed as soon as possible?

“Clearly this Premier cares more about clinging to power than she does about protecting Queensland children.

“Not to mention our concerns that the author of the Child Safety report was Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Director-General of Communities in 2011, when the rot set in on Queensland’s child safety system and 1288 employees were let go – prompting a full Royal Commission into Child Safety.”

LNP Shadow Attorney-General Ian Walker said disturbingly these three Labor reviews recommended at least another 21 reviews take place.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into releasing any reports on child safety and foster care since she’s been Premier and when she finally does, she orders dozens more reviews,” Mr Walker said.

“Every second counts when kids in abusive homes or foster care are in danger and this government just keeps on reviewing rather than doing.

“Queenslanders deserve better than Labor’s cover-ups and crises in child safety.”