Human Services Minister Jacquie Petrusma is under increasing pressure with new details of the child protection crisis on the North West Coast emerging.
It’s been revealed that 8 cases were deemed of “significant concern regarding harm or risk of harm”.
Shadow Minister Rebecca White said the new information is in contrast to the Minister’s statements to Parliament.
“Jacquie Petrusma tried to play down the severity of the cases involved but her own department identified eight that warranted the most serious course of action,” Ms White said.
“The Minister has misled Tasmanians over the gravity of the missed notifications.
“The Minister told parliament on the 19th of August this year: “advice received directly from the field is that there are no priority 1s amongst those 56 notifications”.”
“We now know eight cases involving very young children involved “significant concern regarding harm or risk of harm”.
“It also calls into question the Minister’s response on the 22nd of September, when she said there was “no evidence to suggest that any child subsequently came to harm”.
“The Minister wanted people to believe that none of the missed cases were of a very serious nature.
“This saga gets worse and worse for Minister Petrusma.
“Firstly 151 notifications were ignored, then the Minister was kept in the dark for weeks, now it’s been revealed that she played down the severity of the cases involved.
“Jacquie Petrusma’s credibility as Minister is in tatters and she should resign.”
Rebecca White MP Shadow Human Services Minister
