Page 1285 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
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Canberra the way it is. This Government acts over and over again to change Canberra from the way it is. It continues its attack on Canberra, breaking down what the Canberrans appreciate most of all; and it was the same with schools.
The Canberra community accords a high priority to its schools, but not so the Alliance Government. Canberrans say that they want a great education system. Well, they should have it. Canberrans say that they want the green space that is here; so they should retain it. I suggest to the Chief Minister that he should ask those who live in the ACT, that he should consult with them. I suspect that that is a hope that will not be realised. We have not seen evidence of that sort of interest in the past. Unfortunately, we will not see it in the future.
I should warn him that the protest movement surrounding those schools is growing. It is being joined by those people who have no children but who have an interest in keeping the suburb the way it is. So the protest is not diminishing; it is increasing. A particularly unfortunate aspect of this is that the sale of the school sites, if it is ever achieved, would make the decisions about school closures irreversible. The reports we have seen and the documents about - - -
Mr Duby: You are not going to reverse them, Bill.
MR WOOD: Let me say this, most clearly: The ALP will reverse your decisions and those schools will be reopened. The position we have placed ourselves in is most emphatic and, unlike people on that side of the house, we honour our commitments. There is no recognition here that the situation can change. Populations can fluctuate. They can drop and they can grow again. What you have here is an execution of the schools. You are cutting off their heads. You are killing the schools and there is no possibility of any change subsequently. It is the Government's intention to close the options.
Mr Humphries: What is the difference between what you did and what we have done?
MR WOOD: I will be telling you that in a moment. Demography does change. Populations do vary. There is a ripple effect in the ACT. Inner suburbs decline in numbers and then they start to regenerate. I have seen that in the area where I live and where Mr Moore lives. We have seen it. Ainslie school is a great example. The situation will develop. The figures shown in the planning variations in some cases already illustrate that. The populations will increase and the time will come, on the Government's criteria, not the ALP's criteria, when there will be numbers there to justify that school.
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