Page 2729 - Week 09 - Thursday, 9 August 1990
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But the Government blew even that today. My colleague Mr Berry has found out some very interesting information about what is going on in the health system, that other area that the Government is trying to destroy. He had a press conference this afternoon, and the press was very interested in what he had to say about those figures. What was the response from the Government when Mr Berry made some statements alleging very serious blowouts in the health budget, which would very seriously affect next year's budget? The Minister, Mr Humphries, who says, "I can't give you any figures on education because that is a matter for the budget, and if I gave you any figures on education it would give you an inkling about the budget", immediately was prepared to enter into that debate and talk about the figures for next year's health budget.
So there is no in-principle refusal to talk about budgetary matters. It is just that you are terrified to embark on a debate on the figures for school closures. The reasons for that are obvious. It is because this community in Canberra has got itself extremely well organised to fight your cuts.
Mr Humphries: Not health cuts. There were five people out there yesterday in relation to the closure of the hospital. That is a really big turnout!
MR CONNOLLY: You hold the community in contempt, Mr Humphries, and it will reciprocate most heartily at the next election. The Canberra community that is organising to fight these school cuts is probably the most articulate and intelligent public interest group one could ever hope to find. You know that as soon as your figures are released they will be torn to shreds by Dr Frances Perkins and all the other leading figures. But you hope you can just cling on with a little more time, that if we have to wait another month that will be another month in which the school communities will get a bit more dejected and a bit more depressed about the school closures. You are just not prepared to enter into the debate.
You made some public statements earlier when you said, "About $2m". There were some public statements and we expected them to be amplified, but there were no more details than, "We think $2m", a figure that was totally demolished by Dr Frances Perkins, I suggest. Even if it was not, even if that figure was right, even assuming that Dr Perkins is completely wrong and Mr Humphries' unjustified figure is totally right, how can he go out in the community and say: "We're going to do all of this for $2m"? For less than one-fifth of one per cent of the Territory's budget, he will inflict on the community the outrage of these school closures.
That decision will haunt his Government until its dying days. What defence do we hear this afternoon of the decision to close schools? There was no defence at all, I suggest. All we heard was rhetoric. We did not hear any figures. We did not hear any reasoned decision why those
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