Northern Territory Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill says the Territory is putting the safety of children first, despite new laws introduced this week being criticised by experts who say they will diminish the safety and rights of Aboriginal children.
On Tuesday, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) tabled its child protection legislation, which will remove the legal enforceability of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) so that it applies only "as far as practicable", while also capping protection orders at two years in favour of permanency placements.
Earlier this month, the CLP-led parliamentary committee ignored evidence and expert advice and recommended the laws — drafted in the wake of the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby in April — be passed with only a minor amendment, despite 120 of the 150 submissions calling for the legislation to be scrapped or substantially amended.
The CLP majority in NT's unicameral parliament means the laws will pass.
Cahill defends child protection overhaul
On Monday, National Indigenous Times reported Northern Territory and Queensland child protection ministers Robyn Cahill and Amanda Camm did not sign a statement — endorsed by every other child protection minister in Australia — affirming that implementation of the ATSICPP is "entirely consistent with child safety".
Ms Cahill did not respond to questions from National Indigenous Times asking whether she supports the ATSICPP or its benefits for Aboriginal children, and why she didn't sign the statement.
However, on Tuesday she launched an attack on the other states and territories, arguing "what other jurisdictions do, and what they think is right for their jurisdiction, is entirely up to them".
"I will make the observation that not one of those people reached out to me to have a discussion about why we would take the approach we are, not one of them asked why we felt that it was so important to put safety first," Ms Cahill — who did not attend Friday's Community Services Ministers (CSM) meeting and instead sent a proxy — told reporters, as reported by NT News.
"And to be honest with you, that they don't think that that's important is something that I truly find incomprehensible.
"Here in the Territory, we have one goal, and that is to keep our children safe."
One of the signatories to the statement was Federal Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, whose portfolio covers the Northern Territory.
No one involved in the debate over the new legislation has argued that child safety should not be paramount. While the government has said it will "for the first time" list the safety of the child "as the primary consideration", the existing legislation states its primary objective is to "promote the wellbeing of children, including: to protect children from harm and exploitation..."
It further affirmed: "When a decision involving a child is made, the best interests of the child are the paramount concern."
Debate framed as false choice
As hundreds protested outside NT Parliament, Shadow Minister for Children and Families and Child Protection Chansey Paech told parliament the government was attempting to "divide Territorians into those who supposedly care and those who do not", labelling the move "insulting" and a "dishonest characterisation of this debate".
"The question before us is not whether children matter," he said. "Of course they matter. Every child matters under existing legislation. The safety and best interests of a child are already paramount considerations in decisions made under the Care and Protection Act."
Mr Paech argued the new legislation will not make children safer, with the Northern Territory facing a shortage of child protection workers and receiving no new government funding.
"I reject the government's attempt to frame this debate as a contest between culture and safety; it is a false choice," Mr Paech said. "For Aboriginal children, family, kin, culture, language, identity and country are fundamental parts to their well-being — they are protective factors."
National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter urged the government to "listen to the countless experts telling them to pause the Bill and to stop acting in a silo without the rights of the child in mind".
"This Bill goes directly against the rights of the child and contradicts everything that was put in place to protect them," she said.
"If this Bill passes, more children will be removed. Enough is enough. Listen to the experts who have the lived experience and stop this deeply concerning and discriminatory Bill from passing."
The new legislation has been heavily criticised by legal, Indigenous and child protection experts, whilst support has largely come from Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the Northern Territory Police Association, the Australian Christian Lobby, and the Foster and Kinship Carers Association of the Northern Territory.
Responding to the ministers' statement, Senator Nampijinpa Price — a CLP member and fierce critic of the Northern Territory's current child protection laws — said it was "extraordinary that governments presiding over the continued failure of child protection systems across Australia now seek to lecture the Northern Territory about protecting vulnerable Aboriginal children".
"Their joint statement demands continued adherence to the existing framework, but offers no serious answer as to why that framework has failed to keep so many children safe," she said.
She argued the bill doesn't "erase family, kinship, community or culture," but makes clear "these considerations cannot be used to justify leaving a child in danger, returning a child to danger or delaying intervention while adults debate process".
"If the current approach is working, why are so many Aboriginal children still unsafe?" she said.
"For too long, governments and institutions have been more concerned about offending activists, organisations and bureaucracies than confronting the reality facing vulnerable children."
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe — a long-time critic of the CLP Government — said the new legislation is "based on racist dog-whistling" and ignore the fact that the NT Government is "already failing to uphold" the ATSICPP.
"The existing law already makes the safety of children paramount in every child protection decision. This is already the law," she said.
"The NT Government has waged a campaign to misled the public by pretending the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle somehow makes children unsafe. It doesn't. That claim is legally incorrect and goes completely against the recommendations of the landmark Bringing them Home report."
Despite the principle being in place, the latest data shows only 17 per cent of First Nations children aged 0-17 in out-of-home care in the Northern Territory were placed with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relative or kin — the lowest rate in the country.
Senator Thorpe called for Canberra to intervene.
"The Federal Government cannot stand by while the Northern Territory betrays its supposed commitments under the Closing the Gap Agreement, weakens protections for Aboriginal children and dismantles oversight of child deaths," she said.
"The Commonwealth has overridden Territory laws before, and it should do so again now."
