Finocchiaro lukewarm on Dutton’s promised royal commission into Indigenous child sex abuse
The Chief Minister has offered tepid support to her federal counterpart’s push for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
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The Chief Minister has offered tepid support to her federal counterpart’s push for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
Speaking in Alice Springs last week, Peter Dutton committed to establishing a royal commission within the first 100 days if he was to be elected.
The Opposition Leader has been calling for a royal commission into the issue alongside shadow Indigenous Australians Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
“It would be a priority for us,” Mr Dutton said.
“I’m certain it will be a task within the first 100 days of government and we will make an appointment and announce the terms of reference at that time.
“We shouldn’t treat children in Alice Springs any different to any other part of the country. Children deserve the sanctity of their childhood and they deserve the protection of their government.”
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said she had not received specific reports from police about Indigenous child sex abuse in the Territory.
“Sometimes it’s important to look under the bonnet … (but) it has certainly not been put to me that this is where we need to be spending our time and energy,” she told ABC Alice Springs.
“Does it happen, absolutely. Is it abhorrent, absolutely. Does it need to be squashed, absolutely. So I’m happy for the feds to do what they’ve got to do.”
National peak body for Indigenous children SNAICC said it was “appalled” to see Mr Dutton make the “demonisation of Aboriginal people a centrepiece of his election campaign”.
“If Mr Dutton is truly concerned about the safety of children, he should be calling a Royal Commission into the abuse of all Australian children,” chief executive Catherine Liddle said.
“In 2023, the Australian Child Maltreatment Study revealed the majority of Australians (62 per cent) have experienced at least one type of child abuse or neglect.
“Child abuse is far too prevalent in Australia full stop.
“Singling out Aboriginal families and communities is harmful and puts ideology before evidence.”
Ms Liddle said there had been more than 33 reports into child protection since the Bringing Them Home report in 1997 – including the 2007 Northern Territory Little Children are Sacred inquiry into sexual abuse of Aboriginal children.
The Little Children are Sacred report sparked the Howard coalition’s NT Intervention (the Northern Territory National Emergency Response) – a controversial suite of alcohol, policing, welfare and health policies targeting Indigenous communities.
According to the Closing The Gap dashboard Indigenous children experience sexual assault at a rate of 2.8 per 1000 children compared to 0.5 per 1000 for non-Indigenous children.
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