‘Deliberately flouting law’: juvenile justice is bringing McGowan honeymoon to an end

Recent attacks aimed at Western Australia by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Treasurer Matt Keane, regarding gas reserves and GST reform, left barely a scratch on the WA Premier, with Mark Gowan noting that NSW doesn’t even have receiver depots for the gas Keane wanted WA to send its way, and that Perrottet’s push to overturn WA’s guaranteed 75-cents-per-dollar GST floor had support from neither the former federal government nor the current one.

Furthermore, Western Australians, with the total support of the market-controlling Seven West Media, back McGowan to the hilt when he defends these key economic planks of the state’s economy.

But on the domestic front, questions now must be asked as to whether McGowan’s long honeymoon is coming to an end. Were it not for the fact that McGowan is less than halfway through his next four-year term, and that the Coalition was virtually destroyed at the March 2021 election, the government would be looking wobbly.

The nurses and police unions are in deep dispute with the government, while the treatment of juveniles in detention is severely damaging the reputation of the government and McGowan himself.

Hubristic resistance to criticism from highly qualified professionals over the incarceration of juveniles in an adult penitentiary — and also in an arguably not-fit-for-purpose juvenile detention centre — is a sadly inadequate response to a problem beyond the capacity of the justice and penal systems to deal with.

McGowan and WA Corrective Services Minister Bill Johnston have effectively told the current and former presidents of the Children’s Court, the former custodial services inspector, a former police commissioner, and the commissioner for children and young people that they don’t know what they are talking about.

“Children’s Court president accuses McGowan government of ‘thumbing nose’ at justice over abuse of kids in prison” headed last Wednesday’s The West Australian. The lead story said: “Children’s Court president Judge Hylton Quail slams McGowan Govt for ‘deliberately flouting law'”.

And this was followed up three days later by Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, the commissioner for children and young people, launching a withering attack on McGowan and Johnston.

McGowan-Jones told The West Australian that the government had breached the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

On this grievously important matter, McGowan appears to have lost his steady hand on the tiller approach to government. An arrogant “I know best” approach just doesn’t cut it against critics whose expertise is widely acknowledged.

Johnston had already announced there would be a full review of the juvenile justice system, so both he and McGowan could have referred to this while at the same time encouraging the experts to make submissions to the review.

In the meantime, McGowan needs to get on the front foot and invite critics and experts to a roundtable brainstorm on how best to resolve — especially in the short term but also on a more permanent basis –this pressing and gut-wrenching issue that has WA’s populace wondering: how could such a terrible situation arise in a state as wealthy as ours?

What do you think of the state of juvenile justice in Western Australia? Let us know by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.