Page 1287 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
anything. The history is this: Those schools were closed by a Federal Government - a Labor Government, I will acknowledge - to which the ALP in the ACT was totally opposed. We were quite unsuccessful. I am sure Mr Humphries has gone to his Federal Ministers from time to time, before this Parliament too, no doubt, and been knocked back. Well, that happened to us. We opposed it, strongly. I would like to hear that aside by Mr Humphries.
Mr Duby: He said that there have not been any Liberal Ministers since he has been involved in politics.
MR WOOD: Well, State parties are not always successful at convincing their Federal colleagues of courses of action. We opposed that, but we lost. We did not seek to reopen them when the Follett Government was in office for that seven months. It was not presented to us. No group in the community came to us and said, "Reopen those schools". It was not a part of our consideration. On this occasion there were so many requests that it did get that consideration. The ALP, in contrast with the Government, does listen to the community.
Further, a most significant factor was that Mr Humphries and his Alliance Government showed clearly that they were setting out to dismantle the system. This was no mere closure of a few schools. He was setting out, in the first instance, to close 15 to 25 schools, with no guarantee of further action. It was a fundamental change to the school system with which we were presented. Further than that, the Minister and his Government ignored carefully established procedures to be put into operation when schools were planned for closure. In those circumstances it was necessary to defend the schooling system. In those circumstances the ALP attended to the requests from the community.
In view of the Government's massive campaign to destroy the school system, in view of its avoidance of established strategies concerning school closures, and along with the lack of any mandate from this community to take that action, the ALP therefore considered seriously the approaches that had been made to it. We decided that, with the consultation of the community, we would reopen those schools. That view is respected and accepted in the community. It will remain an issue, despite these efforts of haste, to be decided at the next election.
The Government sets out to discredit this and to assert in here and in the community that we are not serious. We are serious. We have made it absolutely emphatic and, as I have said before, and it bears repeating, the ALP has demonstrated that it keeps its word, and that we will do.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .