Senate debates

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Adjournment

Residential Care

8:14 pm

Photo of Jordon Steele-JohnJordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

Tonight our nation is caught within a moment of decision. Before us now is a question: will justice be done for disabled people or will we once again miss the opportunity to ensure that those in our nation who are so often made voiceless are heard?

Tonight, I'd like to read a passage from a speech given by my fellow disability activist and advocate Craig Wallace, who, in 2015, as part of the White Flower Memorial to commemorate all those who died in institutional and residential care, spoke to the sorrow and pain of our community. In concluding, he said, 'I call for those who have left us to be remembered, for their names and stories to be said out loud in the sunlight and amongst the people who love them.' Tonight, I seek to speak their names, and though the sun does not shine in this place I hope that their stories will move the hearts of those who have it within their power to see justice done. The following names are those who have died in the lead-up or subsequent to the Senate inquiry which called for a royal commission.

Shellay Ward, aged seven, was found locked in a room without sunlight, surrounded by faeces. Shellay died from starvation and thirst, and she weighed only nine kilograms—a third of her expected body weight. She had severe autism and was considered to be profoundly disabled.

Levi Bonnar, seven years old, was found beaten, tortured and finally killed by the people who were meant to care for him.

Hayley Dea Bell was eight years old. When she was found in 2013 she was starved, suffering from pneumonia and her hair was infested with lice and matted with dirt.

Isabella Leiper was nine. She died from a combination of internal injuries which paediatricians said were caused by blunt force to the stomach, such as a fist.

Julian was 11. He was left to freeze to death in a shed. He had first been hosed with water after having faeces rubbed in his face.

Liam Milne and his younger brother.

Craig Sullivan, 17, who was arrested for a minor driving offence and later bashed by another inmate at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre, died in isolation from a massive brain haemorrhage.

Brandon Le Serve suffered severe learning difficulties and was killed by a family member.

Jack Sullivan, 18, died in state funded care in the ACT from drowning.

Lara Madigan, 20, was returned to her parents' care at 19, despite stating that they could not look after her. Nine months before her death, authorities were warned she would die if the situation was not addressed. Two weeks before her death, both of her legs were amputated to attempt to stem infection. She died covered in her own faeces and urine in a room infested with cockroaches.

Sarah Hammoud, 22, a disabled young woman who was unable to speak and reportedly half-dragged and half-carried herself from a taxi after a shocking incident, allegedly witnessed by community workers, later died in hospital in 2016 of septicaemia.

Christopher O'Brien, aged 22.

Neil Summerell.

Rebecca Lazarus was found with multiple stab wounds in her chest and abdomen in a group-care home.

Jamie Vincent Johnson, age undisclosed. His care plan stated that he should not be left alone with water because he would drink it without stopping. He died after being left alone in the shower.

Carney Schultz died in a group home. She had a seizure at 2.23 am that was documented by staff and was found dead seven hours later.

Shona Hookey, 29, died as a result of medical neglect in an institutionalised setting.

Stephen Ind, 29, a quadriplegic man who made complaints of sexual assault and misconduct by his carers. He was left facedown and suffocated to death.

Stuart Lambert.

Melanie Cutmore, who died in the same hospital and under similar circumstances as Shona Hookey.

Brett Ponting, 33, died after being left unsupervised in a bathtub for an extended period of time. His carers were blamed for negligence.

Darren Kingma died in his respite facility as a result of an unexplained incident in which he broke his neck. He was left on the floor for over an hour after his support workers gave up trying to pull him up, saying that he was being non-compliant.

David Veech.

Miriam Merten, a mother of two who was left naked and covered in faeces at a Lismore psychiatric hospital.

Amanda Gilbert, 47, who had an acquired brain injury as a result of attempted suicide and was placed in the Graylands Hospital psychiatric care centre in my home state of WA. She was raped and assaulted 111 times and died as a result of complications used in the medication to sedate her. The WA coroner believes this to have been an underestimation of the number of times that she was raped.

Leah Elizabeth Floyd died when a pressure sore she had received at her care home became septic. The inquest heard about serious issues in the facility that she lived.

Julie Jacobson, a 51-year-old amputee who died a preventable, avoidable death after a private disability support provider withdrew essential supports.

Sandra Deacon, 59.

Janice and Robyn Frescura, 68 and 50. A family friend of the three people who died in a shooting near Hervey Bay says it was a mercy killing.

Shirley Thompson.

Janet Mackozdi.

Julie Betty Kuhn. A 81-year-old from Armadale was charged over his elderly partner's apparent mercy killing. It was described as a beautiful act of mercy for his wife.

These are the names that don't get spoken. These are the reasons. These are the human beings. These are the loved ones, the mothers, the fathers, the sons and the partners who need justice, who demand justice, whose lives were worth living, in whose memory I tonight wear a white flower and whose passing fills me with an ironclad determination. I will not stop and I will not rest until they find the justice that is so desperately owed them.