Liberals say Jay Weatherill can’t be trusted to fix state’s failed child protection system

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has survived a move to force him to resign but the Liberals claim he is personally responsible for the state’s failed child protection system and can’t be trusted to fix it.

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PREMIER Jay Weatherill has survived a move to force him to resign, as the Liberals claim he is personally responsible for the state’s failed child protection system and cannot be trusted to fix it.

In a day of high drama at State Parliament flowing from the bombshell Royal Commission recommendation that Mr Weatherill disband the Education and Child Development Department he created, the Opposition met his challenge to move a no-confidence motion against him.

On Tuesday, Child Protection Systems Royal Commissioner Margaret Nyland called for child protection to be dealt with by a stand-alone agency and warned the sector was “in crisis”.

It came four and a half years after Mr Weatherill merged child protection and education in his first act as Premier in the hope it would lead to better protection of the vulnerable.

The formal push for Mr Weatherill’s resignation came after the most aggressive Question Time in years, which resulted in the ejection of a string of Liberal MPs and a dramatic walkout from Speaker Michael Atkinson as he refused to rule over a House in uproar and disarray.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall told Parliament Mr Weatherill had personally overseen the troubled system over more than a decade, and should restore dignity to his office by resigning.

Premier Jay Weatherill survived the no-confidence motion. Pictures: Dean Martin.

“For the vast majority of his time in this parliament he has been the minister for child protection, the minister for education or the Premier of SA,” Mr Marshall said. “Ultimately he must take responsibility for the very obvious failures which have now been uncovered.

“In 2004, the minister of the day, none other than the Premier today, said that the system was in crisis but, don’t worry, he was going to fix the leadership and fix the culture.

“Fast-forward 12 years down the track, and we have exactly the same situation. This Premier has been inextricably involved at every single step of the way. He is the problem.”

Mr Weatherill was defended by Health Minister Jack Snelling and former Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith, who quit the Liberal Party in 2014 and joined the Labor Cabinet.

Opposition Leader Stephen Marshall in full flight in Parliament. Picture: Dean Martin

An emotional Mr Hamilton-Smith said anyone who was a parent “have had our hearts broken by these events” but general society needed to take the blame, rather than Mr Weatherill.

“I simply say to every politician in this house ‘What is your solution?’” he asked.

Mr Weatherill was also backed by independent minister Geoff Brock.

Earlier, Mr Weatherill apologised for systemic failures under his watch and promised reform.

“We certainly have failed those children who have died in circumstances where there could have been ways they could have been protected,” he said.

“I do unreservedly apologise for the fact that, for our most vulnerable children, for children the state has a responsibility for, the care and protection was unable to occur in a number of important cases over the life of this government.”

Tell us: Do you have confidence in the Premier?

Failure to protect fuels further doubt

By Daniel Wills

STATE Parliament hasn’t seen scenes like this for years.

A place that has been sedate since the arrival of a new and softly-spoken Premier in 2011, yesterday exploded in uproar as a furious Opposition called for his resignation.

The jaw-dropping Royal Commission recommendation that the combined education and child protection department that he designed be disbanded has rocked the State Government.

It has also sparked a furious response from a public that has shaken its head in dismay at disgraceful cases of abuse, and is fast running out of confidence that it will ever be fixed.

Premier Jay Weatherill has been the Teflon man for much of his leadership.

An incredible debater and master persuader, Mr Weatherill is peerless in his ability to explain himself out of a tricky situation and find others to carry the blame. There is also no doubt of his genuine conviction and desire to improve the lives of the disadvantaged.  But he has never quite been in a spot like this before. His personal record of ministerial involvement in the field makes shifting responsibility impossible and the complete failure of his policy has been called out by a Royal Commissioner, whose findings are close to Gospel.

The great political danger for a Government which has been expert in the past at politics but has a questionable record of achievement, is that this becomes a proxy for its overall competency.

Many voters will be wondering today if Mr Weatherill could get this so badly wrong, despite all soothing reassurances of the past, what else about him is nothing more than good marketing.

But in the brutal and pitiless profession of politics, the calculation is now about how long that doubt will be made to linger. In calling out the Opposition and challenging them to call a no-confidence motion, Mr Weatherill avoided another day of bad news down the line. He’ll know the assault isn’t over, but be backing himself to survive again.