Page 2287 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 June 1990
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The planning that ought to be put into place on this matter would cover a whole range of areas, but nothing would happen until that planning had carefully assessed all the ramifications of what was proposed. But, time and again, Mr Humphries has stood up here and at public meetings and has said, "When we decide what schools we'll close, then we will make the adjustments. We'll find out how much we need for extra buses and so on". After the event he will then take compensating action.
I do not call that planning; I call that disastrous action. Of course, we must realise, I suppose, that the Minister has one thing in mind - to save money. But the problem is that he is acting on an assumption of saving, and that is all it is. He is assuming there are money savings to be made. I have pointed out at other times - and I maintain the point of view - that, on the meagre, still unsubstantiated savings he claims, there is still no reason to close even one school. Since that time serious doubt has been thrown on the validity of any figures that he has proposed. He makes the assumption that there is something to be saved and that is all. We should not go down the path of making mammoth changes and then making the necessary adjustments after that.
Mr Humphries: You have to go and see them to know what is going on.
MR WOOD: We are not dealing just in numbers, Mr Humphries. It is not a numbers game. We are dealing with children. We are dealing with the students in our schools.
Mr Kaine: Who are being agitated by their teachers; listen to the voices outside.
MR WOOD: I can hear a lot of students out there.
Mr Kaine: And some adult voices agitating. It is absolutely shameful.
MR WOOD: I can hear a great number of students out there - about 2,000. Perhaps you should go out and listen more attentively to the point of view they express. They are students, and those students are concerned. We are concerned on this side of the house and we do not see evidence of that concern on the part of the Government. It is not just a matter of changing numbers on a sheet of paper and saying, "All right, now we can take these 100 children from this school and put them in that one", or, "We will take out 300 from there and we will spread them in these directions". That is not the way it should be done, but that is the way in which it appears the Government wants to tackle the problem.
We had the data on numbers from the Minister - eventually - but that did not say what was behind it all. If this had occurred in the New South Wales system - and people have demonstrated that this is the case; they have shown us the
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