Page 1910 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
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of collectivisation and centralism that go with Labor philosophy that went off the rails in the last 10 years.
Certainly, Mr Speaker, the Residents Rally is treading a rocky road at the moment. Who wants to deny that? Who can deny the fact that hard decisions do produce reactions from the people? The Residents Rally will support a proper rationalisation and restructuring of the education system to improve the quality of education, to improve the nature of the community based system of schooling in the Territory and to improve the morale of our teachers.
Award restructuring and other proposals alluded to by the Minister will ensure that, as Dr Kinloch said in this Assembly not long ago, the teachers' salaries reflect their true worth. No people in this Assembly are better placed to say that than Dr Kinloch and me. We rarely have the company of our spouses before midnight, week in and week out, when they are correcting essays and other projects for their students. Teachers work enormously long hours, they are not well accommodated, they do not have plush offices, and I invite - - -
Mr Wood: I fit into that category too.
MR COLLAERY: Certainly, Mr Speaker, I accept that Mr Wood, though not one of our spouses, is certainly one of our friends and has been - - -
Mr Wood: No; my spouse does the same thing. That is what I am trying to say.
MR COLLAERY: I thought I was receiving a proposal, Mr Speaker, but obviously my hopes are dashed! In any event, we must accept that, when Mr Wood was a teacher, he was extremely diligent. It is unfortunate that he did not carry that diligence - - -
Ms Maher: His wife is a teacher too.
Mr Wood: That is what I have been trying to say to you.
MR COLLAERY: Is that what you are saying? Well, certainly, it goes without saying that Beverley Wood would fit into that category and she would know how important it is to put pressure on her marvellous spouse to help with a constructive debate on the education issue.
To move away from personalities, it is very clear that the Follett-Whalan Government did not adopt an education strategy. I received an anonymous envelope in the house yesterday. It contained a very large green pill. I am not sure which member of the house sent it to me and I certainly will not take it. It is probably the education pill that the Labor Party did not want to swallow. I have no doubt in the world that, when we get to 1992 and our friends opposite are all deciding which way to go - harakiri or hemlock - I can make this little pill available to them.
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