Page 4187 - Week 14 - Thursday, 25 October 1990
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A very important point was made by Mr Moore in this debate when he wondered what other documents there might have been in relation to the school closure decision. What if we had never seen this Interim Territory Planning Authority document? What if we had forgotten to ask for it? What if the schools communities had not had the initiative and foresight to request, through FOI, all the documents relevant to the closure? The Government certainly tried to scare them off from that FOI request by indicating that they would be paying the full fee costs of an FOI request, which could have run into many thousands of dollars if every minute of bureaucratic time searching for the documents had been counted.
The first basic recommendation in this report which was referred to by Mr Wood was the obvious statement by the planners that:
A rigorous assessment of the proposal -
that is, the proposal announced by the Government to close schools -
is required to identify cost savings both public and community in the short and longer term. Additionally the social implications of the proposal require careful assessment.
Mr Deputy Speaker, where is the documentation to suggest that the social implications of the proposal have had that careful assessment? We do not seem to have seen any evidence to suggest that that has been taken on board.
Mr Moore: The real evidence would be marked "Cabinet-in-confidence".
MR CONNOLLY: Or commercial-in-confidence or something in-confidence. It would certainly be behind closed doors and in a locked filing cabinet. The other basic point referred to by Mr Wood was:
Primary schools comprise the basic building block of most Canberra suburbs.
I think he finished the quote there. I will go on:
The primary schools are located to optimise safety, access, social interaction and residential amenity. This approach ensures equitable access to primary schools for all children.
That principle has been thrown out the window by the closure of a number of primary schools in this town. How can parents in Weetangera, for example, be persuaded that they still have equitable access to primary schools for their children? How can they be persuaded that the new arrangements will optimise safety, access and social interaction?
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