Wednesday, 14 October 1998

Dear Pauline,

Below is a copy of a message received on AJ’s Web Site yesterday. Permission from the writer has been given to send you and anyone we feel appropriate a copy of this message. This is only one of many hundreds of postings on the web site and one of only 11,000 e-mails received by me since 21 September 1998. The e-mail volume hasn’t really decreased and the majority are from New South Wales Residents expressing concerns. The web site still received over 3000 new visitors a day.

Please take the time to read the following message carefully. I have copied this letter to the people named at the bottom (and several dozen not listed).

I feel it important to let you know that after 8 days of no communication from you, especially after a Faye Lo Po stated to Graham Richardson on 2GB (Tuesday 6 October 1998) that "the matter was to be resolved locally" and that "there are documents that say that there needs to be more attention given to that family and the baby" we certainly feel the lack of attention and attempt by DCS to compensate and reconcile at this time is beyond SHOCKING.

Can we please get back on track URGENTLY.

Lets get back to our agreement of communicating DAILY – by PHONE.

EVERY DAY without fail you should now contact us – it is your obligation under your legislation and Policy. You and your department are now required to put up or get out.

The Public and our Family want answers and we aren’t getting them. It is suppose to be DCS’s objective to "Help Families" and I’m sure, without trying too hard, I could quote several other dozen phrases from the Practice Manual alone. Lets not start looking at DCS posters and Brochures.

Let us (DCS and Todd Family) not try to find reason to escalate this matter to cause use of resources you are now aware we have. Instead, let us both work to find resolution. By this, I mean, lets avoid the next step of legal action by our Family against you, your staff and the Department. It seems more harmful to the potential operational good that DCS could maybe otherwise do.

I’d also like to point out that the contradictions in comments made by you to Doug Smyth, by Carmel Niland to Graham Richardson and by Faye Lo Po to Graham Richards are just beyond belief. It appears you and your staff and hierarchy are unable to communicate a simple story that has no complications at all – especially as it’s all caught on Video Tape.

Lets get this show together and complete with urgent haste. Full attention to be given from all.

From: Birgitta (Gitte) Nielsen Carney (13 Oct 1998)

I have been following this tragic saga for a while now and I must say that I am appalled at the lack of accountability shown by the NWS police dept and DoCS. And even after all this publicity they are *still* carrying on in the same aggresive manner.

As to DoCS staff not having *any* suitable training, well, I can't think of anything publishable to say. How can an organisation charged with caring for children and famillies possibly justify hiring staff who have no basic child care or counselling skills whatsoever?

How can they justify not telling the parents *exactly* why they want to take the children? Surely it is in the child's best interests if the parent know what the problem is so they can work to correct it. How can they justify keeping information about the child from the parents? Where do they get this information from? Do they scrutinise their sources of information as closely as they scrutinise the parents? If not, why not?

How can they justifiy taking a child on alleged medical grounds when they have no medically trained staff present when the child was taken and the child wasn't immediately taken to a medical facility? The questions go on and on. I wonder if there will ever be any answers forthcoming.

As to you being accused of following the advice in books. Those books were in all likelihood written by people who had more training in infant care than the DoCS staff. I have read *lots* of books since my first baby, that's how I found out about all the benefits of breastfeeding and a whole variety of other things about parenting and how to be good at it. Maybe we should come up with a list of recommended reading for DoCS :)

Since when is being educated and informed a crime? Parenting is probably the most important job we will ever have so it makes sense to try to get as much *current* and *medical* knowledge as we can. I can't understand why some people despise books.

Yours sincerely,
Adam Todd.