Madeleine West speaks to MPs about child exploitation

Madeleine West has shocked MPs with an experiment that proved how badly exposed Aussie children are to sexual predators.

Actor Madeleine West has shocked MPs by revealing controversial AI Chat GPT knew how to solve Australia’s online child exploitation crisis.

West appeared before federal parliament’s law enforcement committee on Monday morning that is hearing evidence for an inquiry into law enforcement capabilities in relation to child exploitation.

“As an experiment, this morning I asked the AI Chat GPT, how law enforcement capabilities could be improved to curb child exploitation,” she told MPs.

The top five answers were: Stringent risk assessments and regulation of social media platforms where child exploitation is known to occur, harsher sentences for those who commit crimes related to child exploitation, a national registry of child sex offenders accessible to law enforcement agencies and the public, legal requirements forcing co-operation and accelerated information sharing between the three tiers of law enforcement and media platforms, stringent background checks for anyone working with children and other professionals in positions of trust.

“This AI draws conclusions based on public sentiment and knowledge en masse, yet we have failed on every count. What does this say about us? It tells us that the very technology being harnessed to harm our children knows better how to protect them that we do,” West said.

She was bombarded with questions from the politicians on the committee after pointing out the simple solutions that could prevent child abuse.

West revealed she was sexually abused as a child as part of News Corp’s Predatory podcast that delved into child sexual abuse in Australia.

“I’m very honoured to say the assembled senators recommended that all those attendance and the public at large to listen to Predatory,” she said after she spoke to the committee.

The 42-year-old also called on opponents of a superannuation law change to reveal their true motivation, after joining the fight to change superannuation laws to allow victims the retirement funds of their abusers as compensation for the trauma they’ve endured.

“Anyone who objects to changing the existing law – does that suggest that they themselves are perhaps a paedophile and want to protect their interests?” the former Neighbours star said.

Madeleine West will give evidence at a parliamentary inquiry.

Super for Survivors also includes lawyer Andrew Carpenter, Fighters Against Childhood Abuse Australia (‘FACAA’), the Grace Tame Foundation and the Carly Ryan Foundation.

“For many survivors life has been rendered unliveable by this horrible thing that happened to them when they were a child,” West said.

“The cost is beyond just being traumatised, it radiates into every aspect of the victim’s life.”

She said the taxpayer or the victim shouldn’t be made to meet that cost – it should come directly from the abuser”.

Some argued the loss of retirement savings would punish the family of a paedophile, but West said “we have to be responsible for our actions”.

“In itself it's a deterrent to know ‘if I do this, and am caught, then it’s my kids and my family that are going to be impacted rather than just me.’

“So everything we can do to create another deterrent to this reprehensible behaviour is a step in the right direction,” she said.

LISTEN TO THE PREDATORY PODCAST:

West considered standing for the upcoming NSW state election and is not ruling out a further attempt at a political career because “I genuinely want to help other people”.

“I believe now more than ever, I’m in a position to be a voice for people,” she said.

“The purpose of the podcast, telling my story, beyond everything else has been to save one child from being exposed to what happened to me. And if my voice, along with the others who will be addressing parliament, can truly make a change to the law and make recommendations that will expand the capacity of law enforcement bodies, then that’s a wonderful start.”

West and Gary Jubelin who also fronted the Predatory podcast. Picture: David Caird

Super for Survivors is lobbying the Albanese Government to go further with its proposed changes, which places limits on how much super money can be accessed.

“The collective view of Super for Survivors is that [the proposals] will effectively

achieve nothing that is already available. This paper does not provide any or any

adequate avenues for change to enable survivors to seek redress from their offenders,” the Super for Survivors submission states.

“What [it] does do is inadvertently show that the government is content for the tax payer to continue to indemnify offenders by setting up schemes costing the government billions of dollars rather than enabling survivors to access the superannuation of offenders.”

For more details about the Predatory podcast, go to predatory.com.au If you have a story to tell, email us at [e-mail] 

Originally published as Madeleine West speaks to MPs about child exploitation