Minister Says Shocking Abuse Of Teenage Boys Didn't "Pique" His Interest
“I had never seen the vision, it hadn’t come to my attention, it hadn’t piqued my interest.”
Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion said shocking footage aired by the ABC's Four Corners of boys being physically mistreated at a juvenile detention centre in Darwin hadn't come to his attention because it hadn't "piqued [his] interest".
Four Corners aired the footage on Monday from inside the Don Dale detention centre, which included images of teenage boys being sprayed with teargas while being held in isolation and wearing hoods and restraints.
ABC Four Corners
Scullion described the CCTV footage of children gassed and stripped naked in isolation cells as "some of the most disturbing [he has] ever seen".
ABC Four Corners
The minister said on Tuesday he had never seen the footage and didn't watch the Four Corners episode until after the prime minister called and told him to.
"Yes, this is my patch, and for clarity, in October last year there was some commentary in the media about this but it was all about: This has all been taken care of," he said on Tuesday.
"I made an assumption – you've got to be careful about assumptions – I assumed that the Northern Territory government were taking care of this matter and that I didn't take any further action in that."
Scullion said he's written to his state and territory counterparts asking them whether abuse is happening in detention centres elsewhere around the country.
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