Thursday, 20 November 2025

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:00): My question is for the Minister for Youth Justice. Minister Erdogan, in the past 12 weeks two violent youth who had committed multiple serious offences, including carjackings and home invasions, were approved by your department for travel together to the Gold Coast on a taxpayer-funded holiday, including sightseeing and visits to multiple theme parks like Sea World, Wet‘n’Wild, Dreamworld and Movie World. Minister, how many other clients of your department have been approved for holidays this year?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:00): I thank Mr McGowan for his question and his interest in my youth justice system and in a matter that is of great public interest. The way that decisions are made in the justice system and the way resources are allocated from the justice system – I think these are fair questions. But you would also appreciate, Mr McGowan, that I will not be getting into individual cases or circumstances of young people. You did point to a case that was reported in the papers, and I cannot comment about that specific case –

Nick McGowan: On a point of order, President, the question was very specific. It was: how many other clients? I did not ask about the identification of clients. How many other clients of your department were approved for holidays this year?

The PRESIDENT: I think the minister was responding to the preamble, and I will call the minister to continue.

Enver ERDOGAN: As I was saying, there are specific provisions about getting into individual cases because of privacy laws. Where there are decisions made about youth justice and young people broadly there are privacy provisions, and not just in my system. The NDIS and other systems have provisions that are similar. But what I will say is that there is an established process for the department to make assessments around people travelling whilst they are on an order. These processes are operational decisions. It is my expectation that community safety is always paramount in these decisions. In relation to this kind of travel and permissions, it is not uncommon for people to get permission to travel interstate. It is not uncommon, because there are quite a few young people who have family and friends interstate and in other jurisdictions where they need to visit. They may need a visit for Christmas, for Easter or for other significant days for them. That is part of a running a rehabilitative system. But what I will say is that I expect those decisions to be appropriately balanced, Mr McGowan, and ultimately public confidence in the justice system is vital. I have asked my department, I can confirm, for more information about the protocol for approving these decisions, understanding these are operational decisions made by experts in the field.

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:03): I thank the minister for his answer, notwithstanding the fact that he refused to actually answer the question. Community correction orders are intended for low-risk offenders who have demonstrated significant compliance with existing programs. These individuals have been described – that is, the individuals that travelled to the Gold Coast and visited theme parks – as two of the worst youth offenders in our state. In addition I understand a 15-year-old who was on bail was approved for a similar trip in 2024, and so I ask the minister: how many youth offenders were approved by your department for this kind of travel in 2024 if you cannot tell me how many were approved in 2025?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:03): Thank you, Mr McGowan, for that supplementary question. As I stated in my substantive, this travel is not uncommon for young people. The supervision is approved. It is an operational decision by an expert where the activities are deemed necessary. Approvals of this nature are made by operational staff who are satisfied that the decision is sound, but I do expect those decisions to be balanced and reasonable. They also do need to consider common sense and expectations of the community so that we can uphold confidence in the justice system.

Nick McGowan: On a point of order, President, I have now asked two very specific questions – very simple questions about how many of these kinds of trips have been approved by the minister’s department. Both my initial question and my supplementary question the minister has gone nowhere near answering. While you cannot direct the minister in the nature of the way he answers the question, the fact it is not even answered, such a basic question, undermines the integrity of this place.

The PRESIDENT: I think the minister was being responsive to the question. There are a number of previous rulings from presidents that were not me around the level of detail a minister is expected to have in questions without notice and relying on questions on notice on the notice paper to be able to respond with that degree of detail. The minister has been responsive to the question, and I will refer the member to those previous rulings.

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:05): I move:

That the minister’s answer be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.