Third Staffer 'covered up' rape

A THIRD Labor adviser in South Australia has been implicated in a school sex-abuse cover-up at the centre of a royal commission, with emails showing the senior staffer was told about the case a month before her minister claimed to have been briefed. 
 
Kate Baldock, a media adviser to former education minister Grace Portolesi demoted in January as the cover-up scandal deepened, refused yesterday to answer questions about her role in the affair.
Ms Baldock also declined to say whether she had told anyone in government of the rape of a seven-year-old girl in December 2010 by a pedophile school services officer.

A government spokesman said Ms Baldock was not called to give evidence to the royal commission.
Among the commission's findings were that Premier Jay Weatherill's chief of staff, Simon Blewett, and child protection adviser Jadynne Harvey were told of the incident by the Education Department, in an email alert labelled "the gravest importance" and failed to inform the Premier, when they had an obligation to do so as it "related to the safety and welfare of children".

The Premier has refused to take disciplinary action against them.

Government emails obtained by the opposition under Freedom of Information laws reveal that Ms Baldock was informed of the incident on February 10 last year, after the abuser had been found guilty and sentenced for his "shocking" crime.

An email sent to Ms Baldock by Dale Webster, an Education Department media liaison officer, outlined details of the man's conviction and proposed a "holding line" - in case of media inquiries - that claimed "all due processes" had been followed.

Mr Weatherill maintains that the first he knew of the case was when the opposition exposed it in parliament in October last year, when it was revealed parents had been kept in the dark for two years.

Royal commissioner Bruce Debelle, in his findings released last month, found Ms Portolesi received a complaint about the case from parents on March 9 last year, noting that "she had not been previously briefed about the offending . . . nor had she any reason to be aware of it".

He said her first briefing was in late March last year, by her department.

The latest revelation, about another senior political adviser apparently failing to inform anyone in government of a serious sexual-abuse case in a public school, will intensify pressure on Mr Weatherill to discipline his staff.

Political advisers knew of the case in the days before a by-election that was crucial to the ALP was held in an electorate that included the school where the incident occurred, but told no one.

Mr Debelle found that a letter to inform parents had been drafted and was to be sent only if there was "sufficient media attention". That letter was never sent.

Opposition education spokesman David Pisoni said yesterday the Premier should explain whether the government failed to notify parents because of the impending by-election.

theaustralian.com.au 15 Aug 2013

The state of Australian politics is absolutely disgraceful.

The amount of corrupt politicians per capita approximately is 10:1 compared to the general populous.

As long as the atrocities happen to the children of the 'canon fodder' there is no duy of care by the government.

As a digression, the government 'owns' ALL registered persons, including children.

This will be discussed in detail in another post.

Apparently, false information in court is a criminal offence, to the masses anyway, so let's see how this farce continues.