Page 2179 - Week 07 - Thursday, 6 June 1991
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Let me remind you that there has been agreement in this Territory about the excellence of our system. There has seldom been dispute about that. It has been carefully developed over many years. It was not randomly put together; it was not developed without careful thought. It has a well considered philosophy. Let me state just a couple of the very few guiding principles that it has. One is participation at all levels of the community. Another is devolved decision making - devolved to the communities. They are prime factors in the way that this system operates.
But how did this Government treat this system? First of all, it did not take the time to understand it; it did not want to get to know the system. It would not have taken very long, but that was never done. What happened was that, three or four months after the election of the Kaine Government, the Minister for Education, Mr Humphries, abruptly announced that up to one-quarter of our schools - up to 25 were to close. Think what an effect that would have on any system. It was a revolution in our schools, and it was done so early. Clearly, there was no prior thought given to it; there was no careful development of ideas; there was no development of a consistent framework by which to undertake such a massive change.
This revolutionary change - with this abrupt and destructive style of management - was made in a community that had been educated, indeed exhorted, to participate in the operations of schools. It was done in a community that had just been told in an election campaign, by most of us at any rate, that self-government was justified in terms of the voice that the community would have in the management of the ACT. And this drastic change was made after an election campaign in which there was no suggestion that further schools would be closed.
What sort of planning and what sort of understanding are behind that sort of change? Immediately, the community lost confidence in this Government, the Chief Minister and the Minister for Education. To compound that, the Minister announced that, apart from a reference concerning the criteria for closing schools, there would be no consultation. Of course, there subsequently was, because our community was educated that there would always be communication; but it was forced on the Minister and the Government.
This radical proposal was also brought down with no documentation at all. Day after day in this chamber I stood up in this position - and Mr Humphries was right there - and sought details. We sought costings, enrolment details and a host of information that is fundamental in the planning for any change. And day after day the Minister stood up and said, "We will tell you that later on when we know".
Mr Humphries: When the budget comes down, I said.
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