Page 2426 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 7 August 1990
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MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (3.57): Mr Acting Speaker, my remarks in this debate on this matter, or supposed matter, of public importance shall be brief. This statement that we have had addressed to us today, that the Government's decision to close schools has been taken with a total disregard for community interest and with a lack of any careful or accurate planning, would, of course, be a matter of public importance if that were the case, but I think the Minister, Mr Humphries, has demonstrated that such is not the case. Such is not the case and can be clearly demonstrated not to be so.
In my remarks I shall, first of all, address the issues that were raised by Mr Wood and Mr Moore. In particular I think I shall talk about the mumbo jumbo that was reiterated over there by Mr Moore. Mr Moore, in his usual fashion, has quoted from an OECD document. Of course, he has quoted completely out of context. The references that Mr Moore was making to this supposed - - -
Mr Moore: On a point of order, Mr Acting Speaker; it is certainly totally inappropriate that he is suggesting that I quoted out of context. I certainly did not.
MR DUBY: It is not a point of order at all, Mr Acting Speaker, and I shall demonstrate so. The simple fact is that Mr Moore was supposedly quoting from some OECD document which he had in his hand. He could never, of course, quote chapter and verse. He could just say, "this document, this OECD document". The number of times he mentioned OECD in that speech must have come to something like 30. I suppose it is only a matter of time before there will be a submission before some inquiry of which Mr Moore is a member and then he will go to New York or Paris or wherever the headquarters may be to investigate fully the further ramifications of that document. Mr Acting Speaker, Mr Moore claims that - - -
Mr Moore: On a point of order, Mr Acting Speaker; I raise standing order 55. I believe that that is an imputation of an improper motive. The imputation is that I only use such documents when I speak so that I can in some way wangle an overseas trip. This is totally inappropriate and improper.
MR DUBY: I think the imputation might be more that he uses these documents, quoting them out of context, so that when people try to refute them he can take up their speaking time with fruitless points of order.
MR ACTING SPEAKER: Continue your speech, Mr Duby.
MR DUBY: As I was saying, Mr Moore used the example of a community with two schools which each had only sufficient students to half fill each school. He said that it was uneconomic to move students from one school to the other to fill it and to somehow use those premises, or especially to mothball them - and I can assure him we are pleased to hear that he does not agree with that procedure.
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