Page 197 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 1991
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particular? The initial announcement about school closures was made in May of last year. Criteria were released for public discussion in about June. As a result of extensive public discussion, of extensive submissions received from the public, of extensive discussions between myself and school communities, both at the school sites and with delegations from those communities, the criteria were amended and released in about July for a further round of public discussion.
Now, contrast all of those stages, Mr Speaker, with the processes of discussion and consultation which occurred with previous Labor Party closures of schools. Those amended criteria were released in July. A list of schools to be closed was released in August. Throughout this period there were extensive public meetings, almost all of which I was able to attend. There were meetings with parents during this time. Following the announcement of particular schools to be closed, the Government acquiesced to an inquiry headed by Mr Hugh Hudson, and there was a further extensive round of public consultation and debate over that decision.
Mr Hudson himself undertook extensive discussions with the community. The Government also undertook similar discussions. There was a revision of the Government's decision following his report, and further meetings and discussions with teachers, parents and others, including the trade union movement. There were more meetings. More meetings are being held this year. Mr Duby has held meetings and discussions. I have had more meetings and discussions since returning from overseas. Mr Speaker, how any government could engineer more consultation and more discussion on this issue is a mystery to me. I cannot conceive how any government could have been more open and prepared to discuss this issue than this Government has been. And I challenge anybody on that side of the house to explain what else we could have discussed that was not discussed in the course of those last eight to 12 months.
I want to contrast that approach, the approach of this Alliance Government, with the approach of the Australian Labor Party in 1987 and 1988 when it closed six of Canberra's schools. At that time there was virtually no consultation with the community. No criteria were released for public discussions. There were no organised public meetings, of which I was aware, on the subject. There were no discussions in which Ms Follett and her Labor Party machinery were involved, because Ms Follett and the Labor Party that she led at that time went to ground on the issue. They went completely and utterly to ground.
Ms Follett: We did not; that is ridiculous.
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