Grandmother says system failing despite WA child protection minister's flying visit

In short:

A South Hedland elder said local children are still being left behind, four years on from the deaths of her three grandchildren.

Dorothy Papertalk says many of the systemic failures persist today, as exemplified in reports this week that more than a dozen children were left unsupervised in a home on her street.

What's next?

Politicians are continuing to hotly debate the issue in WA Parliament this week, but one Labor MP has called for all sides to work together.

The Pilbara grandmother who blew the whistle on serious child protection failings across Western Australia's resource rich north-west says little continues to be done to protect vulnerable local children.

The 55-year-old buried her grandchildren Jamelia, 10, Arnda, 7, and Kelvin four months after they were murdered by their mother Margaret Hawke in July 2022, who then set fire to their South Hedland home.

Ms Hawke was sentenced to life in jail the next year, but Dorothy Papertalk said many of the systemic failures raised by their deaths persist.

Reports first appearing in The Australian newspaper this week, described more than a dozen children living unsupervised in squalor just a few minutes from where the children were killed.

The growing political firestorm saw WA Child Protection Minister Jessica Stojkovski urgently dispatched to Port Hedland, 1,600 kilometres north of Perth.

In a whirlwind trip lasting less than 24 hours, Ms Stojkovski met with police, child protection officials and community members, including Ms Papertalk.

"She did call me yesterday to apologise for the situation … and if I needed any help, to give her a call if I wanted to speak to someone," Ms Papertalk said.

"But at the moment, I'm really, really angry, disappointed … I am hurting.

"Make it fair, [don't] just come and go in a flash and a jack-in-the-box.

"Take me to the parliament, I'll speak face to face and let them know and they'll have the true story about the situation that's happened here.

"I live it."

Allegations of ignored reports

Ms Papertalk accused the Department of Child Protection of failing to intervene in the case of her grandchildren despite repeated warnings.

She further alleged the children were removed from her care and returned to their mother Ms Hawke, who was assaulted by her own parents as a child, and had struggled with drug addiction and domestic violence in the lead-up to their murders.

"They're too afraid to sort out the situation, even just to give me a piece of paper explaining why they couldn't help me and my grandies."

Ms Papertalk said she had been offered support by the state government after meeting with the minister.

But a renewed request for a coronial inquest was denied.

"When they said no, my [inquest] wasn't approved … my heart was like a mirror shattered,"she said.

Speaking to the ABC in Port Hedland, Ms Stojkovski recognised her department's role in the incident.

"The department does acknowledge there were some findings in that review and they have been working towards changing those findings," she said.

Since returning to Perth this week, the minister has repeatedly disputed The Australian's portrayal of events from the floor of state parliament, saying she found no evidence of 15 children living alone for extended periods in South Hedland.

Political pressure builds

The charged debate over the situation in South Hedland has continued, with Labor MP for the Kimberley Divina D'Anna calling for an end to political pointscoring.

"It is about working together and saying, 'What role do I play? What role do I play as government? What role do I play as an opposition?'" the Yawuru woman said on Wednesday.

Opposition leader Basil Zempilas said the government needed to listen to people on the ground.

"If eyewitnesses, residents, other community leaders, including Aboriginal elders from the region are saying things are not OK, this is not alright, this situation has not been brought under control," he said.

One Nation leader Rod Caddies also questioned the response.

"It falls back on you as a minister to make sure that more is being done and whatever that takes," he said.

"You're talking about the children's wellbeing, then every step should be taken to make sure that that is fixed."

WA Police Minister Reece Whitby defended the government's actions and said diversionary programs were key to keeping children safe.

"If you can provide a safe place for a kid to go, to have some food, to play some sport, then they're not at home, which is often more dangerous a place to be," he said.

Ms Papertalk said if she was in parliament today, she would plead with decision-makers to focus on the future.

"We can fix the mistake. We've just got to keep working together and trying to work this out. Because it's the kids.

"If we don't have kids, we're not going to have a future."