YOUTH
CRIME — REGIONS
729. Ms M. BEARD to the Premier:
I refer to claims by Derby shire president Geoff Haerewa that
youth crime is a massive problem and that it is the number one issue in his region, and that the department for child
protection and family support is failing in delivering its services to
these people at home—those wraparound services that are needed. I also
refer to the numerous calls from the shire president of Carnarvon for
intervention programs and support to deal with youth crime and antisocial
behaviour in his community. Why is the government ignoring calls for help from
respected community leaders in regional Western Australia?
Mr M. McGOWAN
replied:
The government is putting enormous effort into providing
additional resources across regional Western Australia to support families that
need that help in dealing with youth. We have rolled out the Target 120 program
in regional Western Australia. Just so the
member understands what the Target 120 program is, as she is new here, it is a
program that we came up with in opposition
that the Minister for Community Services is responsible for. It provides
intensive support for families that have been identified as having
children at risk of going into the youth justice system. It provides interventions with social workers, child
psychologists, child support workers, welfare officers and so forth, to assist families with strategies to assist their
children. Across the state it has assisted in the vicinity of 300 families,
I think, because it is an intensive program and it is about the families that
most need it. We have rolled it out to regional Western Australia. A range of
communities in the north west, in particular, have this program rolling out.
More broadly, we had police and community youth centres
approach us because their funding was running out under the last government. Geoff Stooke, the chair of WA PCYC,
approached us and we backfilled its funding and rebuilt PCYCs across regional Western Australia. For a lot of young
people one meets out there, it is a very structured and exciting
opportunity that gives them structure in their lives. With regard to the
training and education system, when we came to office we actually had to
reinstate a whole lot of Aboriginal education officers—AIEOs—and
education assistants across regional WA that were cut by the last government.
They work with Aboriginal children at school. The last government cut 400 or
500 of them, and we reinstated them when we came to office. In regional Western
Australia, including in the member's communities, intensive support
mechanisms for students are there.
When it comes to remote Aboriginal communities, of which
there are some in the member's electorate, we have actually put $350
million in for housing. Do members know what happened? The previous federal
Liberal government cut all funding for
remote communities. Across the member's electorate and the electorates
of Kimberley, Pilbara and Kalgoorlie, more than 200 remote communities
lost all federal funding. The federal government had funded remote communities since 1968. Do members remember that Tony
Abbott was going to be the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Australians?
What did he do? He cut funding to remote communities, the most vulnerable
people in Australia. What have we done? We have put $350 million into remote
communities for water, power, rebuilds, roads, maintenance and new housing.
When it comes to homelessness services, we have improved homelessness services
across the state. When it comes to police officers who work with families in
need—obviously, they have to enforce the law—we are employing
an additional 1 000 police officers. Many of those will be in regional Western Australia,
including in the member's electorate. All those initiatives are there.
I know that the member will ask whatever is written before
her in her supplementary question. She will not have listened to any of my
answer. I look forward to her supplementary question. I think I have just
outlined a whole range of initiatives that the government has put in place, but
I look forward to hearing the member read her supplementary question.