Jacinta Price sobbed hysterically as she claimed that in the weeks leading up to her purported murder, child protection agencies had failed her niece Kumanjayi Little Baby.
The senator from the Northern Territory claimed that it was costing lives to avoid having difficult discussions about the living circumstances of Indigenous children in town camps.
After Kumanjayi Little Baby was discovered dead in wilderness close to Alice Springs on April 30, Jefferson Lewis, 47, was charged with murder and other offences.
The small girl was the subject of six child protection reports in the six weeks before to her suspected kidnapping and murder, it was disclosed last week.
According to the reports, Kumanjayi Little Baby was exposed to marital violence, neglected, and lived in a hazardous environment.
According to Senator Price, it should “horrify every single one of us in this chamber and across the world” that several warnings went unheeded.
“Too long in this country, there has been silence about what is happening in too many town camps and remote communities—a silence motivated by fear, fear of offending, fear of being called racist, fear of speaking honestly about dysfunction, violence, alcohol abuse, neglect, and conditions,” she said.
“That silence is killing our babies as vulnerable children grow up in it.” And I mean Australians when I say “our babies, our people.”
Jacinta Price has charged that Kumanjayi Little Baby has been neglected by child protection officials.
After the moving speech, Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson gave her a hug.
After the young girl (pictured) was discovered dead in bushland close to Alice Springs on April 30, Jefferson Lewis, 47, was charged with murder and other offences. “My niece was an Australian girl, but there is an ideology in this country that has deliberately encouraged people to treat children like her differently because of her racial heritage.”
“That same ideology has created a hands-off culture within parts of a child protection system, an ideology that too frequently prioritises political correctness and cultural sensitivities over children’s safety, the same ideology that reveres organisations, bureaucracies, and so-called leadership structures, while vulnerable women and children continue to suffer behind closed doors.”
Robyn Cahill, the NT’s Minister for Child Protection, said last week that an outside inquiry had been started and that three child protection employees had been placed on leave.
The day after Kumanjayi Little Baby was reported missing, on Monday, April 27, Ms. Cahill said she phoned the department to enquire about any alerts regarding her welfare, but she didn’t hear back until Friday.
The Northern Territory Parliament has been informed by the minister of plans to lessen the importance of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle.
It stipulates that if an Aboriginal kid is taken away from their family, they must first be placed with a family member and, as a last resort, with a non-Indigenous carer.
Rather, the legislation will prioritise the child’s protection.
Prior to the five-year-old’s passing, Senator Price (seen in the Senate on Tuesday) stated that she had “expected” child protection alerts.
After Kumanjayi Little Baby was discovered dead in bushland close to Alice Springs on April 30, Jefferson Lewis, 47, was charged with murder and other crimes.
Senator Price stated that before her niece passed away, she “expected” to get notifications about child protection.
“Given the circumstances surrounding her death, I suppose I probably expected that there would have been notifications in place, and no doubt, you know, and some of those came from within family as well,” she remarked.
“The worst part is that you’re not surprised when you see it—that’s the worst part… again, more needs to be done.” “And I think there were family members who are beside themselves because they knew the dangers she was in already.”
Lewis has not yet entered a plea to the murder accusation.
