Friday, October 01, 2004
Child porn – what more can concerned parents do?
Interviewed on this morning’s Seven News, Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive Joe Tucci was adamant that parents should be making their own individual inquiries to prospective schools, child care centres etc. In particular, Tucci said parents should approach who was in charge at the centre, and ask to the institution’s staff-screening policies in writing.
What a fuckwit, on this day of all days. With a 42 y.o. child care centre owner, but none of his staff, being charged with child pornography offences, Tucci’s advice is worse than cold comfort for parents.
A better script for Tucci might go like this. The now almost wholly-privatised child care industry is just like any other business in which there are low barriers to entry, easy money in the offing because of government subsidies, and “productivity gains” (= declining wages and conditions for staff) aplenty that can yet be made. That is, it is full of shonks, or worse.
If parents are at all concerned then, the first thing they should be doing is demanding an end to children’s care, and care workers, being bought and sold like used cars. A practical first step here would be to force an immediate end to worker exploitation within the centres (if private owners exploit their staff – and almost all do – what precise moral qualm is going to stop them exploiting children?). Scott Thompson is so far merely alleged to have committed child pornography offences; OTOH the money he has made from child care, so as to live in blue-ribbon Kew, leaves little doubt that he is a man without scruple. As a greedy, amoral baby boomer, he is admittedly currently unremarkable among his peers – the issue thus becomes a bigger one of Changing the System; the system that lets, and indeed encourages, the scum of humanity to be running its most important and sensitive parts.
Update
Today’s Australian Financial Review seems to have missed the story completely.
Which I guess means the Fin rates the child care industry as a “Download me Now!” impulse buy.
Further Update 4 October 2004
Scott Thompson's business past and Liberal Party links are extensively detailed here.
Interviewed on this morning’s Seven News, Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive Joe Tucci was adamant that parents should be making their own individual inquiries to prospective schools, child care centres etc. In particular, Tucci said parents should approach who was in charge at the centre, and ask to the institution’s staff-screening policies in writing.
What a fuckwit, on this day of all days. With a 42 y.o. child care centre owner, but none of his staff, being charged with child pornography offences, Tucci’s advice is worse than cold comfort for parents.
A better script for Tucci might go like this. The now almost wholly-privatised child care industry is just like any other business in which there are low barriers to entry, easy money in the offing because of government subsidies, and “productivity gains” (= declining wages and conditions for staff) aplenty that can yet be made. That is, it is full of shonks, or worse.
If parents are at all concerned then, the first thing they should be doing is demanding an end to children’s care, and care workers, being bought and sold like used cars. A practical first step here would be to force an immediate end to worker exploitation within the centres (if private owners exploit their staff – and almost all do – what precise moral qualm is going to stop them exploiting children?). Scott Thompson is so far merely alleged to have committed child pornography offences; OTOH the money he has made from child care, so as to live in blue-ribbon Kew, leaves little doubt that he is a man without scruple. As a greedy, amoral baby boomer, he is admittedly currently unremarkable among his peers – the issue thus becomes a bigger one of Changing the System; the system that lets, and indeed encourages, the scum of humanity to be running its most important and sensitive parts.
Update
Today’s Australian Financial Review seems to have missed the story completely.
Which I guess means the Fin rates the child care industry as a “Download me Now!” impulse buy.
Further Update 4 October 2004
Scott Thompson's business past and Liberal Party links are extensively detailed here.
