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Queensland Shadow Police Minister Dan Purdie says the minister for child safety is “overseeing a broken department” which he says is “letting down vulnerable kids in our communities”. The coroner’s report into the tragic death of Queensland toddler Mason Jet Lee found the case was a “failure in nearly every possible way”. Queensland Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the report found the Labor government “effectively ignored the decisions” recommended in the Carmody inquest – a 2012 inquiry into Queensland’s child protection services. On Wednesday, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called for another examination of child safety staff over their handling of the Mason Jet Lee case, this time by the Public Service Commissioner. The Child Safety Minister confirmed three people from the Department who were involved with the case are no longer working there, but no one has been fired directly over the failure to protect Mason. Mr Purdie told Sky News host Peter Gleeson it was the LNP government who commissioned the Carmody inquest which showed it had a “roadmap to fix the system,” but the change of government in 2015 showed child protection “obviously hasn’t been a priority” for the Labor government. “There needs to be a wholesale change in the way the system operates”.
