Page 4665 - Week 15 - Thursday, 21 November 1991
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MR WOOD: I do not think there is any inconsistency there at all. I have initiated, through my agencies, a look at this matter so that I can come up with options, and I will have some documentation shortly. The Government has not considered that; it is a review that I am looking at and that I will take to my colleagues at some time within this Assembly, and into the party, broadly, and I would expect into the community. At some future time, the Labor Government will consider these.
I think the answers are quite consistent. You may find that at some stage in the future we will make announcements about what we will do. But, clearly, I have said nothing in recent times to indicate that the Government is about to step back into this field. I think that in any answers to questions, either on notice or without notice - I think these that you quote were on notice - my response has always been that the return of the Government to land development will be very much a staged procedure.
MR KAINE: I ask a supplementary question. Are you telling me that a review being undertaken by a Minister is not a review being undertaken by the Government? Is there some semantic distinction here that I do not understand?
MR WOOD: Well, there may be, Mr Kaine. This is a review that I am undertaking. I can point to my colleagues here and they have not seen it. The Government as a whole is certainly not aware of it. In due course - and I have already indicated that "due course" is some time away - it will come to our notice.
Preschools
DR KINLOCH: My question is to Mr Wood in his capacity as Minister for Education. There is a story in the media about three-year-olds in preschools. Is this a likely plan? If so, would such three-year-olds be required to pay fees? I especially ask that because such a requirement to pay fees might not be fair to all the parents of three-year-olds.
MR WOOD: This is one of the options proposed in a paper that was commissioned by the former Government into the operation of preschools. You may recall that various projects were established on styles of running preschools. I think one was collocation; there was clustering; and there was administrative linking. The task force looked at a broad range of procedures and options. Amongst those was one option - I am emphasising that word "option" - that three-year-olds might be allowed into preschool if they were full fee-paying preschool students.
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