Page 2320 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 1 November 1989
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commitments made by the Chief Minister during the recent campaign.
These advisory groups were not only told that five preschools would have to close; they were also told that they - not the Government but the advisory groups - would have to nominate the schools which were to be closed. Members of the Assembly may have seen a movie which appeared a few years ago - I am sure Dr Kinloch would recall it - called Sophie's Choice. In that movie there was a scene, a very poignant scene, in which Sophie, played by Meryl Streep, was asked to indicate which of her two children she wanted to keep and which one was going to be taken away by a Gestapo officer.
Mr Speaker, it seems to me that the Minister in this case, like that Gestapo officer, is offering Sophie's choice to the preschools of this Territory. He has said, "I'm not going to provide you with any reasons; I'm not going to explain the criteria by which the decisions have been made in this respect; I'm not going to give you any of the forward population estimates on which the figures we say necessitate closing preschools are based; but you've got Sophie's choice: you've got to nominate which of your schools are going to close, and we'll see how the figures stack up in due course".
I find this tactic devious and unacceptable. It is not the hallmark of an honest and open government. Also I want to draw the Assembly's attention to the cloak of confusion which has been cast over this entire issue by the Government. The preschool community has been told one thing by the department, in particular by the chief education officer, and something totally different by the Minister.
How can the preschool community hope to defend its schools, which is its legitimate right, when the Minister keeps changing the ground rules? The preschool community has been receiving conflicting messages. In August a delegation from the Canberra Pre-school Society met with Dr Willmot to talk about the implications of the proposed budget cuts. The delegation leader who was then the president of the society, Mr Walter De Angeli - members will have spoken to him - insists that he was told by the department that no preschool in operation in 1989 would be amalgamated in 1990.
In early October this year the Belconnen south area preschool advisory group received the minute from which I have quoted, saying there would have to be two closures and one full-time teaching position would be shed. No alternatives were addressed and the decision as to which preschools would close was left, as I said, to the advisory group. The minutes said the final recommendations should be made to the department by 1 November, which is today.
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