Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain fights back tears on live TV over Melbourne childcare abuse scandal
In a deeply emotional moment, Ms McBain choked up as she reflected on the impact the alleged crimes would have on families across the country.
It comes after a man was charged with more than 70 offences of child sex abuse in Victoria.
'This is absolutely disgusting,' Ms McBain told Sky News Sunday Agenda.
'I think there are a lot of parents out there who are probably second guessing their thoughts on sending children to childcare, which is not what we want to see.'
Holding back tears, the mother of three shared her own experience of returning to work just months after her first child was born.
'My eldest child, I had to put her into daycare when she was five months old because I needed to get back to work to help us pay off the mortgage,' she said.
'I walked into the baby's room of that childcare centre, really hesitant about giving over care and responsibility for my child to someone else.
'I walked in and I knew two of the three carers that were in there. And I immediately felt a little bit better, but I know that's not the case for a range of parents out there.'
Ms McBain's emotional comments come after 26-year-old Joshua Brown, a former childcare worker, was charged with more than 70 child sex offences.
Some of the children were as young as five months old.
Victoria Police has said Brown, who has worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne since 2017, is accused of sexually penetrating a child under 12.
Other allegations include producing and transmitting child abuse material, and contaminating food with bodily fluids.
More than 1,200 children who may have come into contact with Brown have been urged to undergo STI testing.
The move has fuelled calls from some survivors and advocates for a blanket ban on men working in early childhood education.
Ms McBain did not weigh in on the controversial proposal to exclude male carers but reaffirmed the government's commitment to take action as she described the reports as "every parent's worst nightmare.'
'There'll be a range of measures that will be put in place by our government,' she said in response to a question about banning male carers.
'(Education Minister) Jason Clare has said that he'll bring legislation to the parliament in our first sitting,' she said.
'I just want to assure parents out there that we're going to do everything possible to make sure that those conversations (about abuse) don't have to take place.'
'This sort of thing does pull at your heartstrings… We will work really hard because what we've seen reported, I think, is every parent's worst nightmare.'
Education Minister Jason Clare has pledged urgent reforms, including new legislation allowing fraud investigators to make random, warrantless visits to childcare centres,
The use of CCTV in centres to monitor staff-child interactions has also been proposed as another measure to improve safety.
The broader national response may include reforms to working with children checks and better information sharing between states.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
More than 100 families consider legal action against childcare centres in wake of Joshua Brown sex abuse allegations
'This assessment is being completed by police as a priority. We understand that many in the community are feeling concerned and anxious, however, it is incredibly important that this information is confirmed, then thoroughly reviewed with other relevant agencies prior to any public release,' a spokesperson said. Loading Harris said the firm had been contacted by families whose children were alleged victims as well as parents who had been told to get their child tested for STIs. 'Those parents are traumatised, a lot of them. One parent is ringing me saying the other one can't get out of bed; 'We've taken [the child] for testing, had to hold our children down screaming for blood tests'. Some of them have had more intimate examinations than that. 'It's difficult to explain to [the children] why.' Harris said some parents were now worried whether their child's nappy rash or recurrent urinary tract infections might be related to the scandal. 'They don't know. It's difficult because the kids can't verbalise it,' she said. A parent whose two-year-old and 18-month-old attended Aussie Kindies Early Learning in Keilor while Brown worked there told The Age that authorities had advised them to seek medical testing for their children. The parent, who wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitivities of the case, said that, in the absence of information, parents were trying to use childcare app Storypark to check whether Brown had had contact with their child, but posts with Brown in them had been removed. 'Photos of Joshua Brown with children – including our own – have been deleted. When questioned, Affinity stated the reason was to avoid appearing to 'promote paedophilia', which we found highly inappropriate and alarming,' the parent said. They said the removal of posts raised concerns about the accuracy and preservation of information that could be critical to understanding what had happened. 'This has been an incredibly distressing and traumatic experience for our family,' they wrote. Harris said dozens of families had contacted their childcare centre, desperate for information, but centres had provided very little details. She said the apps had given parents the opportunity to look at past photos to see if the alleged abuser had worked alongside their children. In a letter sent to families who have children in Affinity Group childcare centres on Friday, chief executive Tim Hickey said they had a zero-tolerance approach to abuse or misconduct involving children, and that posts and photos were being removed from Storypark on the request of families. Loading 'All images have been shared with police. The images have been archived, not permanently deleted.' A G8 spokesperson said the company was co-operating with police and relevant authorities. She said G8's focus was supporting affected children, families and staff. 'To support our families, confidential counselling and support is available through G8 Education's dedicated provider, we are waiving all fees charged for absences and any family who chooses to end care has had their notice period waived.'
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘One of the world's biggest stories': Mushroom murder trial unleashed a bunch of ‘hot takes'
On tonight's episode of Paul Murray Live, Sky News host Paul Murray discusses the Mushroom murder trial among other stories, such as the Queensland zoo lion attack, the forecasted RBA cut to the cash rate, and the recent rise in antisemitism. 'I want to talk about some of the circus around what has fast become one of the world's biggest stories,' Mr Murray said. 'As soon as this verdict became clear, it was certainly the lead story in the UK. 'The moment of a guilty verdict was going to be one that unleashed a whole bunch of hot takes.'
Sky News AU
11 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Albanese ‘buries head in sand' as antisemitism runs rampant in Australia
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses the 'weekend of horror' in Melbourne following an array of antisemitic attacks which took place in the city. 'This is the violent, racist country that we are now living in, that's increasingly unsafe for Jewish Australians,' Ms Markson said. "Albanese did not adopt a single one of those recommendations; perhaps he naively believed if he did nothing, if he buried his head in the sand, the problem would go away.'
