Hi Mr Rouge, if you look at my post of Friday, 24 August 2007 1:47:09 PM you will see that I made some suggestions about how to deal with this problem.

The criminal codes are replete with tools to counter the problems we are discussing (and many more- such as police corruption).

But it seems that our leaders and senior public servants don't want to use the laws against their mates, and allow kangaroo court ‘redress’ processes run in a dark ages closed church scenario!

I find it interesting that ten years after Franka Arena was deposed from the NSW Parliament for saying that the Parliament has paedophiles in it that were being protected, we learn the truth of that.

Since then, numerous ALP figures have done small stints in gaol, we have a senior DPP figure presently housed in her majesties hotels, and a dirt-bag from Wollongong has recently been released after running two underage state wards (under the protection of an ALP Minister!) through his Southern Bells brothel.

And everyone in the establishment (at least in NSW) keeps saying that there is no protection racket!

It is interesting that at least two Aboriginal Affairs ministers have been accused of sexually abusing children- (how many more peds have had this plum post) which probably underscores the whole crisis in sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities that is now only being addressed under a liberal government.

I refer back to your post of 22 August 2007 3:13:08 PM. I don’t understand this ‘move on’ mentality of yours, especially when it deals with children who were so miserably failed. These people deserve the full support of our criminal justice and compensation systems (as well as the community), for if they cannot expect the support of our community and justice systems- who can?

Why have a criminal justice system at all?

I want to thank Wima for having the courage to share her story. Something so personal and painful is not being put on the public forum for Wilma to extrapolate from for her own gain or for self pity, but rather as a snap shot of history - a living history - one which we as a civilised society should take note of - learn from - and endeavour to never recreate, as sadly we have done with the wars continuing across the globe today. These kind of personal wars shouldn't be critiqued competitively as to who had it hardest, what generation suffered most, and what kind of resilience and stoicism needed to be applied to overcome. Rather what we have in Wilma's situation is the state being the guardian and caregiver actively abused her, and dispossessed a human from their spirit and a mother and a child from their bond. Stiff upper lip or not - the cost to our society is immense and immeasurable really I am sure. Continue with this line and there are no winners, even if the abused were to move forward through the annals and obtain and achieve great material success. A link in the genetic chain is broken forever!

Hirez “I don’t understand this ‘move on’ mentality of yours, especially when it deals with children who were so miserably failed. These people deserve the full support of our criminal justice and compensation systems”

We can do one of two things, move on or not.

By not moving on people become victims of their past, ignoring the opportunity to become masters of their destiny.

Everyone deserves the protection of the criminal justice system.

Re “compensation”, monetary compensation?

Sue the criminals and turn them destitute but don’t expect “society” to pay for the shortcomings of those who have failed “society”.

A “compensation” attitude is as bad as a “victim” attitude, it seeks to financially compensate that which cannot be financially compensated for and is doomed to failure.

I cannot speak for those who have abused positions of public trust.

We are always best served by a system which minimises government and centralist governmental power. It keeps accountability more visible with fewer points of separation between the elected, the bureaucrats and the electorate. I would personally be very happy to see more judges and public officials elected, as in the USA.

I would prefer to see greater accountability of all levels of government and public violations, like child foster services being overhauled instead of being run by failed halfwits and sexual predators.

However, all abuses are perpetrated within systems which have oversight processes which are supposed to ensure the corrupt are identified and removed when they start, not when they are entrenched.

Extrapolating the predilections of a couple of one-time labor government minsters to excuse the societal deficiencies of the greater NT aboriginal community is stretching too long a bow. The sooner you understand, individuals are individuals with the ability to behave appropriately or badly, the sooner you will understand what I am talking about and why what I say is the only solution to the problems you are grappling with.

PS maybe this is, as you allude to a labor party problem re “numerous ALP figures have done small stints in gaol” don’t blame me, I always vote Liberal

Just because you seek justice doesn't meant that you do not move on with your life!

Education - Keeping them Honest
http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/
Our children deserve better

Maybe i'm not understanding the political side of this discussion but i can't really see that it matters who is in power.When myself and other young children,in the 60s, were being abused in the state homes the Liberals were ruling the country.Questions were being asked then as to the treatment of incarcerated children and if memory serves me correctly,bugger all was done. Who cares who is in charge just as long as the children are being cared for properly.What the hell has politics got to do with this subject.I'm lucky that i've survived relatively unscathed but a lot of people don't have the fortitude or luck of myself.Unless you've walked in our shoes you don't have the right to pass judgement.As for compensation,i don't want any but i do know of people that richly deserve some.The young girls that were sodomised so that they would still pass a virginity examination ,for instance.

Col Rouge

While I agree that sexual abusers and similar filth should be pursued in the courts (although the statute of limitations is a barrier) I disagree that there are only two options: “move on or not”.

Many find it impossible to move on - yet. Many kids left institutions without any education or with only minimal schooling. Many left with medical conditions such as deafness brought on by constant bashings. Many left with deep psychological scars, incapable of making and keeping friends. You can’t just will them to get over it. A childhood can last a lifetime.

It is a distortion to describe people who were raped and abused as “victims of their past”. They were victims of untrained, unsupervised, violent and predatory people employed and supported by the state (or charities or churches). Even when the perpetrators were exposed, they were often just moved on to the next institution to continue their evil. I know of no case before the 1990s where an offender was prosecuted.

The state had a duty of care, was negligent in discharging that duty, and therefore should offer redress.

I agree that not everything can be repaired by financial compensation; but if you are in your sixties and never had an education as a child, why shouldn’t the state (or the responsible charity/church) pay your fees to go to adult classes?

If you have health impairments resulting from childhood neglect or abuse why shouldn’t the responsible agency pay your medical expenses?

If you were isolated and told your siblings were dead why shouldn’t the state pay to let you visit them now that you found them alive?

If you are haunted by memories of being locked in a dark cupboard and allowed out only when you were willing to cooperate with the dirty old man in charge of your life, why shouldn’t the state pay for ongoing counselling?

Re your PS: “…don’t blame me, I always vote Liberal”, I’m prompted to recall that one of the most abusive CEOs of a children’s institution became a parliamentarian - representing the Liberal Party.