WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S PREMIER CROWED TOO SOON


A few weeks back Western Australia's Labor Premier Alan Carpenter heaped scorn on the federal government's intervention in dysfunctional Aboriginal communities:

The federal government doesn't understand the complexities of Aboriginal child abuse but WA will offer its expertise, WA Premier Alan Carpenter says

Mr Carpenter said he would write to Prime Minister John Howard today offering to send advisers to the Northern Territory to make it more likely the Commonwealth's plan to stamp out child sex abuse will succeed.

"It appears to me that they don't really understand what it is that needs to be done or how to go about it,'' Mr Carpenter told reporters in Perth today.

"I don't think (federal Indigenous Affairs Minister) Mal Brough, John Howard understand the complexities of this issue.''

By comparison, Mr Carpenter said, WA had the experience of implementing recommendations from a 2002 inquiry into indigenous child sexual abuse headed by chair of the National Indigenous Council Sue Gordon.

As it turns out, Mr Carpenter overestimated his government's expertise:

Six men from Halls Creek have been charged with child sex offences following a police investigation into how a 13-year-old contracted a sexually transmissible disease.

A taskforce involving police, Department of Child Protection and specialist child interviewers has now been set up to investigate other offences.

Perth police today flew to the Kimberley town to join the investigation, four months after department officers reported that the girl was 22 weeks pregnant and had an STI.

Police spokesman Neil Poh said the girl refused to co-operate with police but inquiries by Kununurra detectives led to the arrest of the six men and uncovered other alleged offences committed against other girls.

The adult men are residents of Halls Creek, Warmun, Balgo and Kununurra.

They are alleged to have committed 18 offences against three girls aged between 11 and 14 between 2005 and 2007.

Police are also investigating allegations by another seven girls against another 20 men.

Carpenter's points scoring has boomeranged.

Update: Carpenter launches another boomerang:

The Premier says the best way to deal with sexual abuse is to win the confidence of Aboriginal women and children.

As note above, the alleged teenage victim wasn't won over, refusing to cooperate with investigators.