Page 1931 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Wood: And refurbishment and the like.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, I do not think that is what Ms Follett is referring to.
Ms Follett: No.
MR HUMPHRIES: I think that those sorts of costs are extremely hard to quantify since we do not know - nobody knows - how many children are dropped at school by their parents and how many walk themselves. We know how many are bussed, in general terms. I will have some difficulty supplying Ms Follett with the information on that score, but I will do my best.
In terms of other direct on-costs, there are some additional costs entailed in having a slightly larger school, as I made quite clear from the outset. I cannot give Ms Follett details of what they might be; obviously it depends on which particular school is involved. Ms Follett referred to the five schools that were closed at the end of 1988. In those circumstances, of course, there were some costs associated with the increase. It is very hard to identify just what those costs were.
Mr Wood: But you will not even try.
MR HUMPHRIES: Well, it is very difficult to quantify those sorts of things, Mr Wood. It is very hard in a changing environment to work out what things flow from the fact that there are more students there and what things flow from other factors. As you are well aware, schools change on a daily basis almost as particular challenges arise to be met and so on. I will attempt for the benefit of Ms Follett to indicate what additional costs of the kind she refers to are quantifiable and identifiable, and I will provide that information at a later time.
MS FOLLETT: I ask a supplementary question. It is on much the same topic. Could the Minister inform the Assembly when he will be providing the figures requested by Dr Frances Perkins, which I believe have been promised on a number of occasions? Obviously they would help in the community's awareness of the financial issues involved in school closures.
MR HUMPHRIES: This is not, strictly speaking, a supplementary question, Mr Speaker, but I will answer it. The information is being worked on at the present time by officials from the Department of Education, the ACT Treasury and at least one other academic from the Australian National University. I had the opportunity of meeting Dr Perkins last night and discussing some of the issues with her. I have undertaken to provide her as quickly as possible with the background and the raw information that she requires to work further on her figures.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .