Page 2428 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 7 August 1990
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total disregard of community interest. I think he pointed out that there had been a number of public consultations - a two-stage period - and over 180 submissions were considered and received and a whole range of information was provided. To say that there had been a total disregard for community interest is clearly ludicrous.
He also covered the point about the lack of any careful or accurate planning. He went through the fact that more than 100 options had been considered by project teams before a reduced range of options was presented to both himself, the joint party room and the Cabinet. The planning implications involved in the closure of any schools in the community were carefully considered, not only by the education experts but also by the people who are most suited to considering planning issues, the Territory planning authorities.
This matter of public importance goes on to say that these closures will bring no significant savings in school expenditure and I think it needs to be shot out of the water. The fact remains that the 1988 closures of schools within the ACT realised recurrent annual savings of some $200,000 per primary school and some $400,000 per high school. These facts are irrefutable and I defy any member of the parties on that side of the house to refute these figures. The savings that were achieved from the closure of schools in 1988 were $200,000 per primary school and $400,000 per high school - recurrent figures. Those savings have been checked by Treasury and details will be released in the budget context.
Apart from anything else, the costs involved in closing a school and not doing anything about the site are well known. Those problems have been apparent for some time to anyone connected with the ACT finances. It is worthy to note that from May last year when the previous Follett Government was in power, until the time that it left the Treasury benches, no decisions could be made and substantial recurrent costs, well in the order of $100,000, were being incurred by the community because once again the Follett Government had demonstrated its inability to make a decision.
The MPI goes on to say that children will be distressed by these closures. I would like to point out that provision is being made for the counselling of students affected by any school closures or school transfers and the distress will be least where communities work together constructively to minimise it. I think it should also be pointed out that schools that amalgamated at the end of 1988 have reported many positive results as a result of those amalgamations and the distress has been reduced.
As regards the damage to the social infrastructure of suburban life, Mr Acting Speaker, these assertions are simply unsubstantiated. It has been asserted that land values depreciate near schools that have been closed. The
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