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Moral Panic - Child
Sexual Abuse |
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But Dyson has all but ruled out a
ministerial inquiry into the claims, saying nothing she has seen would
justify a re-examination of the issue. Documents tabled in Parliament
yesterday show both the Lange-Palmer Labour government and the Bolger
National administration investigated claims by parents that they had been
falsely accused of sexual abuse by a doctor at the camp. One document, released by National
MP Katherine Rich, shows that Finance Minister Michael Cullen, then minister
of social welfare, wrote to the director-general of Social Welfare in October
1989 ordering him to ask Judge Ken Mason to review "disturbing features
about some of these cases which I would like checked out". Dyson has been under fire in
Parliament from National over claims she made last month that it was the
former Bolger Government that decided not to order a ministerial inquiry into
the claims of the Glenelg Health camp parents. ACT MP Deborah Coddington wants an
inquiry established into claims she has made under parliamentary privilege
that one of the camp's doctors, Dianne Espie, both committed and misdiagnosed
sexual abuse at the camp. But Dyson told Parliament she had
discovered a ruling by District Court Judge McAloon, striking out allegations
of sexual abuse by Espie. She said she could not release it because of
concerns about its status. If correct, the existence of the
ruling would back claims by Espie to The Press last month that she was
cleared by the courts of any wrongdoing. Espie has dismissed the accusations
as "very distressing" and "totally untrue". Dyson told Parliament last month
that Government records showed the first allegations surfaced in 1993, and it
had been up to then Associate Health Minister Katherine O'Regan to order an
inquiry. But Dyson was forced to admit
yesterday that Labour had dealt with the issue. She released papers which she said
had come to light only after CYF searched archives that she had not known
existed. The papers include correspondence
between Cullen and then prime minister Geoffrey Palmer over the claims by Parents
Against Injustice Society (Pain), and a letter from Cullen to Pain advising
that he had asked for an independent review of a case where allegations of
sexual abuse were disputed. Cullen also issued a press release
at the time, confirming that concern caused by the inadequacy of evidence in
a number of cases had led him to ask Judge Ken Mason to conduct an
independent inquiry into them, and to make recommendations as he saw fit. Mason's report, published in
November 1989, was also tabled by Dyson yesterday. That report recommended no further
action be taken by ministers on the individual claims of wrongful accusations
of sex abuse. But Mason did recommend a
"further informal inquiry" into claims Espie had undertaken medical
examinations without parental consent. "If this in fact occurred
then important matters relating to medical ethics would need to be
examined," he said. Mason also recommended the
allegation that staff at Glenelg Health Camp presumed every female child had
been sexually abused be further considered. Dyson told The Press she had only
become aware of the existence of the documents in the last week and had
tabled them as soon as she had been provided with them. Dyson said she did not believe a
ministerial inquiry was likely or warranted. Successive governments had come
to the same conclusion. Cullen said the documentation had
served to remind him "of something I had completely forgotten about in
the intervening 15 years. A little bit has gone on in that time". |
