Page 3110 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 12 September 1990
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inquiry and not to go ahead with school closures at this time. Certainly, as well, I call on members of the Residents Rally who have had in this area a strong policy which has not yet been put into place, particularly that calling for an inquiry. I call on the members of the Residents Rally, even though Dr Kinloch is not here today, to vote for the inquiry. I also call on Craig Duby and Carmel Maher to do the same - simply to heed the call by people in Canberra and look at the matter fully and allow the community the opportunity to have their inquiry.
MR WOOD (11.24): Mr Speaker, this matter has been discussed in the Social Policy Committee and members of that committee have been aware for some time of the interest of people in the community in such an inquiry. As well as that, individual members of the committee have discussed the matter between them outside the committee.
I believe that in and out of the committee the members of the Social Policy Committee have all acted responsibly as this matter has been considered. I believe we have sought to avoid any partisan attitude or any political point scoring. In the end, the committee decided that, if this referral were to proceed, it must come from the floor of this chamber. It would be a very important inquiry and in some respects a difficult one; and it requires the endorsement of this parliament if it is to proceed.
I thank Mr Stevenson for amending the motion that he had on the paper to include the point about a moratorium, for it would be pointless, I believe, to raise the inquiry about school closures if the schools were already closed.
The thrust for an inquiry arose from public pressure - and all would agree with that impetus - and, whether we agree with the views of the community or not, there has been a great concern about the competence of the work, the documentation for school closures, and there has been a great deal of doubt about the level of consultation behind the whole project.
The community believes that the costings were not done. The community believes, as indeed has been expressed in this parliament, that the planning was deficient. Some five months after the proposals were first raised, the Minister for Education tabled some Treasury documentation which was done not as a part of the Government planning so much as a response to the community. Then, seven months after the matters were first indicated, we had some details presented yesterday in the budget.
It is this fact, that the decision was made first and then the reasons for the decision were determined later, that has caused so much anxiety in the community. They believe the events should have been the other way around: the case was looked at, there was careful examination of what should be done, and then a decision was made. So it is no wonder that there is pressure for an inquiry by the Social Policy Committee. I believe that is a proper course of action.
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