Page 4882 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR WOOD: You are completely disinterested in this proposal.
Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: Mr Humphries interjected, saying that Mr Wood had misled the Assembly. I ask that you order him to withdraw that.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, I ask you to withdraw that, Mr Humphries.
Mr Humphries: Mr Speaker, I intend to take up this matter after question time, to prove that what I have said is quite true. But I withdraw, if that is what the Minister wishes.
MR WOOD: Let us not have any misunderstanding. You might go back to Hansard and read the questions you have asked, if you have asked any. Look at what you have said in any debate. Go back and check your correspondence on this matter, and see where you stand on it. If you have a substantive proposal, I would expect to see something in writing. This is the first we have seen - after 10 long weeks.
We are going to take it up, although we will not accept the terms proposed here. I am not rejecting all of the points raised; they are obviously the sorts of things an inquiry would be looking at. The third point obviously means that we will automatically reject this. In any case, points one and two, while quite reasonable terms of reference, need a deal of further consideration. They do not cover every aspect, and there is some further work to be done.
DR KINLOCH (3.32): Having heard Mr Humphries and Mr Wood, I want to strip down what I have heard. What I have heard is this: Mr Humphries proposes an urgent inquiry and, basically, the Government accepts that, although they do not like the word "urgent". That seems to be what has been said. I therefore welcome the Government's acceptance of Mr Humphries' proposal. There may be argument by many people about the particular terms of the inquiry, and that lies ahead; but may I, for the Rally at least, accept the proposed inquiry.
We welcome the non-government schools inquiry. After all, as part of the Education Department there is a non-government schools office. It is a crucial part of education in the Territory and deserves the same kind of attention that, for instance, the Hudson inquiry or the recent restructuring inquiry gave, although I must say that I am highly disappointed about the outcome of the restructuring inquiry. I hope that this inquiry into non-government schools will produce a much better report than the one we have recently had about so-called restructuring, which does not even address the question of teachers and the whole range of problems related to teachers in the Territory. That was completely left out of the report. I hope that in any study of non-government schools the place of teachers will be looked at.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .