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Mark Parnell in Parliament: MOTION: Children in State Care Apology

On 19 June 2008 - Legislative Council

That this parliament recognises the abuses of some of those who grew up in state care and the impact this has had on their lives. Only those who have been subject to this kind of abuse or neglect will ever be able to fully understand what it means to have experienced these abhorrent acts. For many of these people, governments of any persuasion were not to be trusted. Yet many have overcome this mistrust. You have been listened to and believed and this parliament now commits itself to righting the wrongs of the past. We recognise that the majority of carers have been, and still are, decent, honest people who continue to open their hearts to care for vulnerable children. We thank those South Australians for their compassion and care. We also acknowledge that some have abused the trust placed in them as carers. They have preyed upon our children. We acknowledge those courageous people who opened up their own wounds to ensure that we as a state could know the extent of these abuses. We accept that some children who were placed in the care of the government and church institutions suffered abuse. We accept these children were hurt. We accept that they were hurt through no fault of their own. We acknowledge this truth. We acknowledge that in the past the state has not protected some of its most vulnerable. By this apology we express regret for the pain that has been suffered by so many. To all those who experienced abuse in state care, we are sorry. To those who witnessed these abuses, we are sorry. To those who were not believed, when trying to report those abuses, we are sorry. For the pain shared by loved ones, husband's and wives, partners, brothers and sisters, parents and, importantly, their children, we are sorry. We commit this parliament to be ever vigilant in its pursuit of those who abuse children. And we commit this parliament to help people overcome this, until now, untold chapter in our state's history.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: On behalf of the Greens, I wish to add my apology to all those who have suffered abuse in state care or otherwise been victims of our failure as a society to protect our children. Whilst the whole subject of abuse and betrayal of trust is a tragedy, one of the greatest tragedies is the fact that, for many years, the victims were simply not believed. It has taken great courage on the part of many people to persist in telling their stories and not be defeated by the failure of governments or society to properly listen and hear what they were saying.

I particularly want to acknowledge the contribution of one victim of institutional neglect who has had the courage and perseverance to fight for justice and recognition for all victims and that is Ki Meekins. Ki will be familiar to many members as one of the public faces of the campaign. He was in this parliament when the apology was first delivered by the Premier, and he featured on many of the evening news bulletins.

I first met Ki about 15 years ago but only recently re-established contact. Quite fittingly, it was when he came up to me as we both stood in Elder Park and watched the apology to the Stolen Generations on the big-screen broadcast from Canberra. It struck me then that there was more than one apology that was long overdue.

When I first met Ki, about 15 years ago, he was homeless, jobless and in a pretty bad way. My sister-in-law took him into her family, and he lived with them for a short period. I can remember meeting Ki and hearing his stories of abuse at the hands of carers as a ward of the state. He also told of influential people in public life in South Australia who were paedophiles and preyed on vulnerable children.

I had to admit that Ki's stories were difficult to believe, because they challenged the view that most of us have about the basic and fundamental decency of our society. The idea of systematic abuse and the involvement of influential people and government agencies is not one that is easily accepted. I recall that my emotional reaction at the time was, 'This is terrible. If these things really happened, then there should be a high-level inquiry. People have to be brought to account.'

Ultimately, and to his credit, Ki and other victims did not give up and, as a result, we have had the Mullighan inquiry; there will be criminal prosecutions; there should be compensation; and this parliament, representing the people of this state, has said that it is sorry.

A month or so ago I was pleased to attend the launch of Ki Meekins' book entitled Red Tape Rape, and I got to hear more about the long journey that Ki and other victims have gone through to get recognition for what they have been through. I acknowledge that the Hon. Ann Bressington was also at the book launch.

As tempting as it might be to go though his story in great detail, I will just read a couple of sentences. The blurb on the back of the book states it pretty succinctly:

Ki became a state ward when he was 'arrested' at the age of six months and placed into the 'care' of the South Australian government.

The abuse that he had to endure as a child was brutal.

He was raped by a foster carer when he was 10 years old, but when he reported the incident he was threatened with retribution from government authorities. Ki was regularly 'picked up' from government institutions by paedophiles for weekend 'outings'. Many state wards, some as young as 10, were drugged and raped repeatedly.

They were known as the 'takeaway' children.

At 13, Ki was kidnapped and taken to Queensland to be abused by a well known TV personality. For three months Ki was constantly sexually abused. The South Australia Police knew that Ki was in Queensland with his abuser but were not particularly worried because 'he [the abuser] was due back soon to face charges of bank robbery'.

Ki then ran away to Sydney and fell into the dark side of the thriving 'boy prostitute' racket in the notorious Kings Cross.

Ki's story is more than the shocking reality of child abuse. This book reveals Ki's inner strength. It tells how Ki spent seven years trying to get justice from the South Australian Government through the court system, and of his passionate pursuit to make governments accountable for their sins of the past and to ensure the heinous crimes he experienced as a child will never happen again.

The book, whilst full of terrible stories, does have an element of hope in it and, in a chapter entitled 'Adelaide will be rocked', he says the following:

When I began my crusade for justice for my fellow abused state wards I never dreamed of the impact that would follow. The 'Pandora's Box' of Adelaide's secrets are being exposed one by one. The criminals hidden amongst the leafy suburbs of the 'City of Churches' are being caught in the spotlight of the Inquiry.

The paedophile networks are collapsing under the pressure of a motivated and skilled police force hell bent on cleaning up the dark past of a city blighted with sex murders and child abuse, a city that felt comfortable ignoring the criminal behaviour of some of its 'finest' sons.

So, even in this tale of despair, Ki is holding out hope that as a society we are dealing with this problem. To conclude, one of the quotes that Ki has in his book is from Albert Einstein, and I think it sums it up very well. Einstein said:

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

Authorised by M. Parnell, Parliament House Adelaide.

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