(Photo: Marcus Priaulx)
June 2, 2015
by Marcus Priaulx
Barambah PaCE
Cherbourg Elder Aunty Lillian Gray believes nearly all children have the ability to succeed at anything they want to … and she’s not afraid to tell them!
A couple of youngsters visited her Cherbourg home last week when they should have been in school.
“Why aren’t you in school?” she asked with a smile in her voice. “You don’t even know what one-plus-one is. You need to be at school.”
While Lillian had humour in her voice she gets frustrated by parents who don’t insist their children are in class when the first bell rings every day.
The newly appointed JP Magistrate to Cherbourg’s Community Court was a bright student herself but had to leave school in Year 7 to work as a domestic at Lotus Creek near Mackay.
“I loved school but I didn’t mind the work because I knew I had to earn a wage so my family could survive,” she said.
“Children today have a different attitude.
“They’re quick to blame they’re ‘being bullied’ but I don’t necessarily believe that. There’s always an excuse.”
Lillian is now doing her bit to ensure this attitude is addressed she sits in judgment at the town’s Truancy Court.
Police bring in parents to answer for their children’s continued absence from school under a re-introduced Cherbourg bylaw.
These monthly hearings are headed by three community Elders with who have a JP Magistrate qualification.
The JP Magistrates decide what actions should be taken to ensure those fronting the court get their children to school every day.
This can include having parents and carers do a Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) or seek counselling and help from other agencies and organisations.
If the parents make no effort to help themselves, fines can be imposed.
It’s a tough gig for Lillian as friends and relatives have been placed in front of her. But at the end of the day they usually give their thanks “because we explain things to them in a way they understand”.
“When it’s just a magistrate passing judgement they can leave confused,” Lillian said.
This is also the case when Lillian sits as an Elder in the Murgon or Cherbourg Magistrates courts to advise sitting judges before they pass sentence on an offender.
She tells judges how the community feels about a guilty party’s actions and what type of person they usually are.
Lillian always remains professional in her advice and the family and friends of the accused often hug or thank her after a ruling is handed down.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Lillian said.
“At the end of the day we need law and discipline, otherwise how would we all get on?
“School’s the same. You have to take direction, you have to follow rules. Even in your own home you have rules.
“My children all know that. Even though they’re all grown they still know my rules.”
(Photo: Marcus Priaulx)
Congratulations ladies. You are pillars of society and inspirational in not just the Cherbourg Community but the South Burnett. We all need to care about education and to abide by rules, society succeeds on it.