Page 3128 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 12 September 1990
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Mr Stevenson's proposal before us this morning allows this Assembly to scrutinise properly what is happening in education, allows all parties to have their say, and allows for a public process. I believe that the community deserves no less than that. I believe that the community deserves all views to be represented, and not just some hypothetical independents established by this Government which is intent on governing by edict. It has thrown out democratic processes, as we have heard from Mr Humphries, and it obviously wishes also to throw out parliamentary processes. You should support Mr Stevenson's motion if you are to have any credibility whatsoever.
MR KAINE (Chief Minister) (12.20): Mr Speaker, I listened patiently to the Leader of the Opposition. Once again we have seen no great contribution to the debate, but an emotional appeal to the electorate. That is fine; but she might have done what she has accused us of not doing, and contributed to the debate.
First of all, Mr Speaker, I refute entirely her proposition that there has not been debate in this Assembly. This subject has been debated innumerable times in this Assembly over a period of about four months. How can the Leader of the Opposition then get up and say that the Government has not engaged in debate?
Ms Follett: I did not.
MR KAINE: You did. You said that there had been no consultation and no debate, and the Assembly has not been given a chance to consider it. Read the Hansard, read what you, yourself, said. The facts of the matter are that what you said was totally untrue.
Mr Berry: The consultation was dodgy.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, could I have some protection from this man? He is like a gramophone - he never switches off.
I submit that the propositions put forward by the Leader of the Opposition in her appeal to the gallery are totally incorrect and totally untrue. There has been extensive debate in this house. There has been extensive consultation. You do not like it; so you say it did not occur. There has been extensive debate, extensive consultation, initially on the several criteria that the Government intended to use to determine which schools it should close. There was extensive public debate on those and later on the application of those criteria to which schools, in particular, should close. It is untrue to say that there was no consultation, just as it is untrue to say that there has not been debate on the matter here.
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