Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Monday, Suzanne Rose Williams died. She lost her battle with cancer. I first met Suzanne Rose Williams 20 years ago, when I was the state member for Swansea. Sue came to see me and to share her story with me, and over the years I have shared her battle for justice for herself and for her children.

Sue gave birth to a child, Christina, when she was 16 years of age, and that child was immediately taken from her—she was never allowed to see the child—and the child was adopted out. Sue was devastated by this. We were able to make contact with Christina, over the years, through Origins Australia, but Christina's life had been anything but perfect. She had been sexually abused and she was drug and alcohol dependent. Sue could never get away from the fact that if she had been able to keep Christina her life would have been different.

She then married an older man and she had a daughter called Kilie. When Kilie was a baby, Sue loved her. But she was also put into a foster home by youth and community services, as they were called at the time, who decided that it would be better if she were put in a foster home because Sue actually did not have a cot for her and St Vincent de Paul—or, shall I say 'the charities'—would not provide her with a cot. Kilie went through a series of foster homes and she had a similar sort of story to tell, where she was abused over the years.

Sue then had a son, Stace, who has had quite a good life and now has children of his own. But her son Adam was abused in a toilet at one of the public schools. For many, many years Sue and I fought to get justice for Adam. Unfortunately, no matter how we tried that justice was never gained. Sue was not the kind of person that everyone went up to and said, 'Hey, let me help you.' She was a battler, and she was a person who I had great affection for.

I really pay tribute to her tenacity. She had one of the biggest hearts I have ever known. If anyone ever needed any assistance, Sue was there to help them. But, unfortunately, Sue never got the assistance that she was seeking throughout her life. Rest in peace, Sue—you deserve it.

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