Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Deputy Speaker, all national eyes are on Tasmania this week because of the historic settlement yesterday for 129 former detainees of Ashley Youth Detention Centre in the class action with the State of Tasmania. That there will be $75 million paid collectively in compensation for abuse at that youth detention centre shows what happens when governments fail to take action to prevent abuse.
The Premier’s comments this morning and what we have heard over the last six months in particular has been deeply concerning. The commission of inquiry made a strong recommendation that Ashley Youth Detention Centre should close immediately. The commissioners said as soon as possible, but they meant immediately. They absolutely meant by now. Peter Gutwein promised Tasmanians and the people advocating for detainees at Ashley Youth Detention Centre that his government would close Ashley by the end of 2024. Here we are at the end of 2024, and what did we hear from the Premier today? We heard nothing. We heard no commitment.
As Ms Rosol has detailed, the completion was meant to be 2024, but it has been pushed out, according to the DECYP report, to 2027. The Youth Justice Reform Taskforce action plan, which was delivered late, in October, refers to that new facility as being ‘a new option’ rather than ‘a replacement facility’. That is not removing children and young people from Ashley. That is not closing Ashley. The long‑term outcome in the plan does not include closing Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
We heard from the Premier today that there are no plans he can table for a deadline for closing Ashley Youth Detention Centre. It is a disgrace because the settlement that occurred yesterday was not just a warning for governments that have failed to act in the past. It is a warning for this government about the young people and children who are locked up in Ashley now. The evidence is there that they are at high risk of trauma and abuse because of the circumstances they live in.
The inquiry commissioners were clear when they talked about former premier Peter Gutwein’s promise. They said:
On 31 August 2023, Minister Jaensch cast doubt on this closure. We are gravely concerned by any suggestion of further delay. The government must close Ashley as soon as possible.
‘As soon as possible’ is not at an unspecified date in the future. This is a broken promise. There are young people today in Ashley and they are at risk of serious trauma and abuse. That is what we continue to hear from the Commissioner for Children and Young People.
We must ask ourselves, who are the Premier of Tasmania and the Liberals working for? Last week, we had the abandonment of the promise to implement a mandatory precommitment card to protect the most vulnerable Tasmanians. These are people at risk of losing their lives, their livelihoods, putting their family’s house up for sale because they cannot pay the mortgage, with no opportunity for their children to live a rich life because there is no money to pay for the basics. When we heard that the government was abandoning the precommitment card, all the people who had been advocating for years, some of them for decades, were gutted. It showed so starkly that this Liberal government puts the interests of developers, big corporations and their donors first. They put them ahead of vulnerable Tasmanians every single time.
We saw three pieces of legislation rushed through parliament last week. The priority was given to that legislation to facilitate fast-track planning bills that would do deals for developers. The effort was not put into the Ashley and the commission of inquiry recommendations legislation. Shame on them. Shame on the Premier after continuing to tell us he cares.
Time expired.
