Questions - 07 December - 21 December 1976
Parliamentary record 16
Questions for 1st Assembly 1974 - 1977; Parliamentary Record; ParliamentNT; 1st Assembly 1974 - 1977
1976-12-21
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Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
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QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Tuesday 7 December 1976 "Was the child declared neglected and given to some European foster parents for adoption?" The child was declared neglected. He was finally placed with European foster parents for fostering. I believe that 18 months later the foster parents applied to adopt the child. Prior to placing the child with the European foster parents, inquiries were made to see if one of the mother's relatives would be prepared to foster the child and care for it. These inquiries were made without success. "Was the mother's consent for adoption obtained?" No. Attempts were made to find the mother, and it appeared to officers trying to find her that she had gone bush and was deliberately evading conta~t: with the Welfare Branch. In relation to whether the lack of the mother's consent led to a great and apparently expensive legal battle, the application to dispense with consent was made by the foster ?arents. I do not know whether it involved them in great expense. Under the Adoption Ordinance, the judge, on application, can dispense with' consent in certain cases. One of the grounds to justify this application for the dispensing of consent is where the parent has neglected the child. Perhaps it needs to be pointed out that, during the period of fostering, some 18 months or more, the natural mother did not come near the child. 1647 Mr BALLANTYNE to Miss ANDREW ANSWER Will plans for the proposed high school at Nhulunbuy be made public and, if so, when? I do not know whether the plans are yet available; I certainly have not seen them if they are. I am sure they will be made available to the public when the department has the plans. 1648 Mr VALE to Mr RYAN ANSWER Can he advise whether or not it is a fact that work on the bridge presently under construction' over Chinaman's Creek in Alice Springs has been suspended because of the water table level and because the Department of Construction made an error in the survey of the location of the bridge and positioned it too close to the old railway line? I believe that construction has been halted on the bridge. I will check with the Department of Construction to confirm whether the honourable member for Stuart's claims about the incorrect location of the bridge are correct. 1649 Mr EVERINGHAM to Mr TUXWORTH At the last sittings and the sittings before tha~, I asked the honourable member certain questions regarding a Taiwanese fishing boat. Can he tell me whether the department concerned made an assessment of value of the Taiwanese fishing boat and, if so, what was that assessment?