Page 1590 - Week 06 - Thursday, 3 May 1990
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all schools. What about morale? What do you do when you have children, teachers and parents in a top school? What do you do with that? You sell it off for $200,000. That is a further critical factor, one that Mr Humphries will have to consider and one that all people on that side of the house will have to consider. People have put their hearts, their hands, their efforts into a school and you cannot transfer that somewhere else. It simply does not happen.
Let us look at a typical school in Canberra. Let us take a school that is threatened with closure, probably a primary school with about 200 children in it. Its numbers are down from what it was planned to hold in the first place and there are neighbouring schools around, across the busier roads that separate our suburbs. Look at that school.
The children arrive eagerly at school each day, keen to get there, anxious to talk to their mates and to their teachers, looking forward to the program. If that program is one of high quality, is well planned and is turning out soundly educated children, as all the data indicate; if the school has enthusiastic and professional teachers and particularly if it is making our children inquisitive and keen to learn more; and if it has strong community support, would you close that school? Is $200,000 the value of that school? That is the price that has been put on it; that is the worth of it. Ponder on that. Surely we are not going to make a decision to close a school like that for the sake of $200,000. That is the question I want to ask.
Ms Maher: The cost is ongoing.
MR WOOD: But that is the marginal factor. It is obvious that this Government is looking at financial aspects. It wants to save money. Not only that, it wants to make money because part of the Government's aim is to look at the capital assets of this Territory. Schools are going to be closed, and I am not sure whether the prime reason is to save money or to make money by selling off. Let me say that there are circumstances when it is proper to do that - I will not argue about that - but we are talking about 15 to 25 schools. I do not think that we have had any real justification for that and there will not be any consultation about it.
I did have some questions I wanted to ask Mr Humphries. I will read them into the Hansard and he may then make some comment. I mix with people who are fairly well informed and I hear a range of options that are being presented to the Government, of which the Government is very likely aware. I simply say at this stage that these are options that have been presented to me and that may be coming up for consideration. I would have hoped Mr Humphries could have said "yes" or "no" to these questions today; he will have to do it another time.
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