Oakden families to meet with Premier Steven Marshall

Grieving Oakden families will meet with Premier Steven Marshall for the first time today. Here’s their key demands.

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GRIEVING Oakden families will today urge Premier Steven Marshall to give the state’s corruption watchdog access to key Cabinet documents and boost the coroner’s ability to investigate deaths at the facility.

Families will today meet with Mr Marshall for the first time since last month’s election victory, demanding he ensure the carers who abused their loved ones be punished and no longer able to work in the sector. Stewart Johnston, whose mother Helen was slapped and thrown on to a toilet at Oakden, said more action was needed despite a “lot of inroads” being made since the facility’s closure.

“The coroner being funded correctly is probably the number one issue for the families, and a lot of them also feel like the perpetrators have got away with what they have done,” Mr Johnston said.

“We’ve had lots of reports into Oakden – that’s enough reports – let’s see investigations into the abuse.”

No police charges have stemmed from abuse at Oakden, but an investigations unit set up by former Premier Jay Weatherill will look at each allegation with fresh eyes.

State Coroner Mark Johns is also yet to decide if he’ll hold inquests into Oakden deaths.

Clive Spriggs, whose father Bob was over-medicated and suffered unexplained bruising during his stay at Oakden, said allowing Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander to access Cabinet documents denied to him by Labor was a key priority.

He said he was excited by the Government’s plan to house mental health patients at the Repat Hospital site.

“I’m just interested in hearing his point of view and how the Government is going to use the information that’s been gathered to move forward,” Mr Spriggs said. Mr Johnston – who endorsed the Liberals in a pre-election TV advertisement – predicted the families would have a “great relationship” with the new government.

“They exhibited a willingness to grab the bull by the horns and I’m going to be holding them to that,” he said.

“They know what damage we (the families) can do collectively if they do the wrong thing.”

Mr Marshall said he would implement all of Mr Lander’s 13 recommendations and continue to listen to the families of Oakden residents.

“These families were let down by an administration with a culture of cover-up, and today (Health Minister Stephen Wade) and I will further express that this won’t happen again under a government that I lead,” Mr Marshall said.