Letters to the editor - July 25

As your community may already be aware, we urgently need more loving, safe and nurturing homes for children and young people who come into care because it is no longer safe for them to live with their birth parents.

As the state's first dedicated Child Protection Minister, my goal was to recruit an additional 50 foster carers this financial year and I'm thrilled to announce we have met that target.

All the research shows home-based care is far more beneficial for children because it gives the child a sense of family.

There are many different foster care options for people, including emergency, respite, short and long-term care and specialist carers who support young people with complex needs and disabilities who come into care.

Foster and kinship carers do amazing and tireless work. I once met a carer who opened her home to more than 140 foster children and I've met single men who foster care and same-sex couples who do a wonderful job looking after our most vulnerable young people.

What strikes me is their warmth, their dedication and above all, the selfless love they give to our state's most vulnerable children.

Foster carers dedicate their lives to looking after young people who have experienced hardship and neglect and for that, I extend my sincere appreciation and thanks.

All foster carers are allocated a support worker and carers receive a carer payment to cover the day-to-day costs of caring for a child.

Family-based carers can now receive payments for young people from 18 up to age 21, providing greater stability and opportunities for them to thrive and reach their full potential.

If you think you can help change a child's life, I urge you to call 1300 2 FOSTER.

Although the mining bill has taken the first step of its passage through parliament, there is still much to play out.

Many people have been calling on the Marshall government for a full and independent review of the mining act.

The following are a number of quotes from the MPs who voted against the first draft.

Fraser Ellis: "All agree that the best way to proceed is by way of an independent review conducted by an independent umpire who can consider frameworks that exist in other jurisdictions."

Nick McBride: "Regional constituents were and continue to be frustrated with the reality that they continue to be placed in a weak position in relation to their rights under an act that always put mining first."

"The current bill represents a missed opportunity to bring greater transparency and better balance to the rights of landholders under the act."

Dan Cregan: "In my respectful view, we need to look to Qld, NSW and WA as leading mining jurisdictions to better inform an instrument to achieve that balance."

Steve Murray: "Today, SA's mining land access and compensation laws are, in my view, very deliberately the worst in the country as an attempt to reduce potential cost for exploration especially, and, thereby induce more mining operation investment."

Troy Bell: "One of the issues I see is that the regulator and the promoter are coming out of the same department."

We thank the MPs above for their support. Member for Frome Geoff Brock has stated his intention to bring on this amendment (for an independent review) in late July. Food-producing land needs protecting.