Page 3117 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 12 September 1990
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Motion (by Mr Kaine) agreed to:
That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent Mr Humphries from concluding his speech.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, the fourth objection that I have to this motion is that the process has become highly politicised. People have taken up positions, very strong positions, on this issue, and to expect those same people to sit down and objectively review the evidence, I think, is a little bit unrealistic. Even Mr Wood in the course of his own remarks said, "You will not be selling any school sites. Take my word for it, you will not be selling any school sites". If that does not prejudge the issue as far as the chairman of this inquiry is concerned, I do not know what does.
Mr Speaker, the other point, of course, is that this is unnecessary. I announced this morning that the Government would proceed to conduct its own independent assessment on the school closures program - the most contentious issue in the course of the last period.
Members interjected.
MR HUMPHRIES: Here we have it: the Government accedes to a request made repeatedly by those opposite and they laugh. This is the objectivity of those opposite. The fact is that the Government has given those opposite what they have been demanding for so long and they do not like it. The fact of life is that an independent assessment will be conducted by a highly qualified, independent person into the - - -
Mr Berry: Who?
MR HUMPHRIES: I will come to that if you will be patient for one moment, Mr Berry. It will be conducted by that independent and highly qualified person into both the savings and the costings implications of the Government's decision and the social and economic impact of that decision - the two important issues that have been raised repeatedly by the community in respect of this decision. I will table the terms of reference in the Assembly; but basically they will be divided into two parts; that is, first of all, to audit the following budget aspects of the school closures program: the expected recurrent savings, the expected capital revenue, and the one-off transition costs, the key element in that program. It will also analyse the social and economic implications of school closures on a range of issues including students and parents involved, shops and businesses in the suburb or suburbs, comparative social and economic implications associated with the use of other expenditure reduction strategies to achieve savings - in other words, what are the alternatives? - and the public school system as a whole, taking into account the Grants Commission's findings
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