Child and Family Services Director, Mark Byrne shows a total lack of understanding .......

His comments published in Saturdays Mercury 8/9/07 warning parents of neurological disabled children "not to DUMP them to the authorities,or they might lose their rights as parents" is provocative,outrageous and just plain stupid . Mr. Byrne may be the new kid in town, but this veiled threat is no more a bureaucratic response to a problem that the government has no idea of how to handle. The child protection order is an Interim order only,and there are  many expensive hurdles for the government to staddle before they get anything that even looks like final orders. 

Parents ,sick to death of having their kids treated as second class citizens are networking and using their shared resourses to organise a united front to educate the public,and to whip the government into action. Mark Byrne is surely qualified enough to understand we live in an information rich society,and the old yes minister aproach is way way out of date. The seriousness of this situation seems not to have fully impacted on Mr.Byrne or the Ministers Office. We will be internationally shamed if his matter is not resolved satisfactorily. The principles involved here are not negotiable. The rights of these children are set out in an international agreement ,and ham fised,penny pinching antics are no longer acceptable. It is time now to step up to the plate and take full responsibility for what is a whole of community issue, instead of trying to hoodwink the public into believing that a frivolous mother has simply DUMPED her kid.

Mr.Byrne would be wise to temper his language in the future and try some compassionate meaningful dialogue with parents who are physically and financially exhausted . These children and their parents did nothing wrong. We all exist as individuals from what is no more than the genetic lucky dip called LIFE!