While Queensland Premier Anna Bligh flits around overseas on her own mini version of Kevin Rudd’s tour of the world, her government at home is faced with yet another case of “What did the Minister know, and when did he know it”.

It seems a recurring theme of the Labor state government, whether under the previous premier Peter Beattie or Ms Bligh, to use distraction as a tool of the state.

A nurse is allegedly raped in the Torres Strait after repeated failures by her superiors to address the critical issue of the safety of her living quarters.

The young woman, who had been on the island only a few weeks before the attack on February 5, had raised the issue of safety on several occasions but was ignored.

This is despite a Torres Strait Risk Assessments report, produced in November 2006, which concluded that the identified security hazard on Mabuiag Island was extreme.

The report, produced by the Townsville Health Service District, listed a series of faults in the premises where the nurse was allegedly raped, including poorly maintained doors and locks, no security cameras, inadequate fire systems, no aggressive behaviour management training for staff and inoperable security systems.

One man has been charged with the rape of the nurse and another with a burglary alleged to have occurred at the same time.

It has also been alleged that immediately after the incident the nurse was told her pay would be docked if she left the island.

She is now preparing to sue the government, the nurses union is on the verge of striking and the state opposition has asked the Ombudsman to investigate the government’s handling of the issue, lacking confidence in a review of the matters now underway by Employment Minister John Mickel.

In what is increasingly the distant past, it was once expected that ministers would take responsibility for the actions or inactions of their departments. It was an effective way of keeping them focussed on their jobs which, while it may surprise some, are not just about the big salary, the car and driver … and lunch.

Where is the Premier? She is in Japan announcing that Iron Chef (French) Hiroyuki Sakai has agreed to come to Queensland to prepare a series of banquets with Palazzo Versace chef Steve Szabo for 70 guests who will be able to watch their meals prepared on a big screen.

The Premier’s 13-day trade mission has also advanced the state of the Australian economy by wooing the Australian head office of a Japanese steel company from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Talk about “let them eat cake”.

We don’t want to know

Is it any wonder that politicians can get away with blue murder when our own focus is so poor?

The National Family Law conference in Adelaide on Monday heard that at least one in every five Australian children would be sexually abused before their 16th birthday.

Former judge Ted Mulligan, who last week tabled a report exposing systemic child sex abuse in South Australia, told the conference governments were overwhelmed by the extent of the problem.

But apparently we rate child sex abuse as of 14th most importance in a list of 15 issues affecting society. Rising petrol prices are of most concern.

Homelessness a national disgrace

The level of abuse may in part, but not fully, be explained by the escalating level of youth homelessness.

The fact that twice as many Australian teenagers are homeless as were a decade ago and that the provision of emergency accommodation is hopelessly inadequate may also in part be explained by that seemingly singular focus on hip pocket issues like petrol prices and mortgage interest rates.

These things aren’t just happening somewhere else.

Sunshine Coast Integrated Family and Youth Service CEO Mark Clissold said the number of homeless children here had risen dramatically.

The National Youth Commission, Australia’s Homeless Youth report has called for a commitment of $1 billion over the next 10 years to address the issue.

Will we spend the money, or is it easier just to blame the kids?

Going on our past performance there is a fair chance we will ignore the sexual abuse going on inside Australian homes, blame the kids for running away to the streets and continue to complain about increasing youth crime.

Mr Clissold told reporter Carolyn Tucker that he was saddened that nearly 20 years after the Burdekin report, Our Homeless Children, was released, the situation had gone backwards and many of its recommendations had not been implemented.

Did someone say the Iron Chef was coming?