Hansard debates

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (16:32:00) — Betrayal of Trust revealed a cover-up that killed. It also highlighted that even for survivors the path to compensation has been tortuous. What this bill does is close an unfair legal loophole known as the Ellis defence, where a victim of child abuse has been unable to sue an organisation responsible for their abuse because that organisation is unincorporated and has no legal identity. Many religious organisations, schools and charities that work with Victorian children are unincorporated instead of conducting their activities through complex legal structures. This problem has stopped many child abuse victims from being able to sue organisations which knew about their abuse and their abuser but did nothing or, in the worst cases, closed ranks. Victims and their families, the Victorian Parliament and the royal commission told us that we need to fix the Ellis defence. This is what the Andrews Labor government is doing and also what we have had in the bipartisanship through the 57th and 58th Parliament and through Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine as well — a bipartisan approach to actually address the evil that has been perpetrated in the past. The evil that men do lives after them, unfortunately.

Closing this loophole builds on laws the Victorian government passed in 2017 to establish a clear statutory duty of care for organisations which deal with children to protect them from abuse and laws the government passed in 2015 to remove statutory time limitations for child abuse cases. The government pays tribute to the work of the victims, their lawyers, friends and families, who have worked so hard for so long and at such personal cost to get to this point. All victim survivors should have the chance to get the justice and compensation they deserve, and we hope the bill will receive the support of all parties and pass quickly. I want to acknowledge the member for Hawthorn for giving his support on behalf of the opposition. I think it also should be noted that the Premier has signed Victoria up to the important next step in this tortuous journey to justice, transparency and healing — a national redress system. Churches have surely exhausted excuses for refusing to join. The children were innocent. Their fortitude in testifying as adults has been humbling.

I do want to pay tribute to Chrissie and Anthony Foster's quest for the obtainable truth. This is their life-saving legacy. This has been an incredible test of will and fortitude. The last time this house sat, when the Attorney-General gave his second-reading speech, Chrissie Foster was here. It was one of those occasions when her eyes sparkled again. She said, 'I always believed in the truth', and she declared that with a smile. She had just watched the Victorian government define this proposed new law to remove the defence that institutions had used to avoid compensating victims for so long. Chrissie's quiet conviction interrupted the clamour of the Parliament. I thanked her for all it had taken in bearing witness against indifference, because this goes to the heart of the matter. I remember Nobel Peace Prize winner, holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's definition of the danger of indifference, and I want to quote him:

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

…

And the opposite of life is not death; it's indifference.

Chrissie's grace over time has been astounding. When we met she thanked me for listening, referring to my role as deputy chair of the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations that began six years ago and in 2013 delivered the landmark report Betrayal of Trust. It was astounding what the people who came to testify did in comparison to what we as MPs did to actually listen and learn from them. I want to, as I have on every occasion, acknowledge the work of all of the members of the committee — the member for Thomastown and the member for Ferntree Gully; Georgie Crozier, the chair, in the upper house; David O'Brien from the National Party and Andrea Coote, who have both since left the Parliament. I note that David O'Brien is still working to try to help victims in returning to his previous career as a lawyer. I wish all strength to his arm in upholding the rights of people who have gone through this process.

There is an important proposition in this bill that goes to the issue of redress. The government remains committed to implementing all of the recommendations made in the Betrayal of Trust report, which includes introducing a redress scheme for victims. That has been the important next step that the Premier has taken in conjunction with the Premier of New South Wales, and the Prime Minister recently made that announcement.

I have been asked to yield on this bill at this time because we have so many other members who want to make a contribution, and I do that in the spirit that these debates have been held right through two parliaments now in bipartisanship. I commend the bill to the house for all it means to so many people who are still going through this trauma.