Premier says ice addiction and poor parenting are causing a child safety crisis

ICE addicts and parental irresponsibility are at the heart of an explosion in worrying child safety cases rather than failings in the department, the Premier says.

Joshua Migala, 2, was allegedly murdered by his stepfather in April 2015. He had been living with his mother despite her history of drug abuse and violence and lengthy relationship with the department.

ICE addicts and parental irresponsibility are at the heart of an explosion in worrying child safety cases rather than failings in the department, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.

Ms Palaszczuk said the scourge of ice had to be tackled in the same way family violence had been brought out of the shadows, with a shocking one in three children presenting to the Child Safety Department coming from ice-addled families.

The Premier was responding to claims two-year-old Joshua Migala had been living with his mother despite her history of drug abuse and violence and lengthy relationship with the department when he died in April 2015.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Parliament. Picture: Annette Dew

His stepfather Joel Nicholas Kuskey was charged this week with his murder.

The Courier-Mail is legally banned from reporting ­details of Joshua’s background and therefore the full extent of the department’s alleged failings cannot be made clear.

Ms Palaszczuk yesterday said she would not prejudice the criminal trial by commenting on the case.

“But what I will say, because it has been made public, is I know that ice is a big issue out there,” she said.

“With one in three children being presented to the Child Safety Department because one parent or both parents are addicted to ice, now this is having a huge impact on the Child Safety Department.

“This is an issue that is happening right across our state and our nation.”

She said some children were living in homes in which their parents were dealing drugs or even manufacturing ice.

“We also need parents to act responsibly and bring up their children in a loving environment,” she said.

Both sides of politics accused the other of creating a basket case.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Government was restoring services following LNP cuts and tackling ice while Opposition child safety spokeswoman Ros Bates accused the Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman of incompetence and presiding over a dysfunctional system.