Page 91 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 8 April 1992
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Madam Speaker, I shall now quote from a media release dated 26 June 1990. The media release has at the head of it "Rosemary Follett MLA". The headline is:
Labor will abolish TAFE fees for adult literacy courses.
Remember that this was when she was in opposition; when there was an Alliance government. It states:
ACT Labor Leader Rosemary Follett said tonight that TAFE charges for adult literacy courses would be abolished when Labor was returned to Government at the next ACT election.
Obviously she had room to move. It continues:
Speaking in support of the adult literacy students' protest about increased charges for literacy courses, Ms Follett said that literacy was a basic right which should be available to all people in the community.
That is a very sensible and rational statement. She stated:
The ACT Government has once again shown that it has an accountant mentality.
There she referred to the Alliance Government that was led by Trevor Kaine. She continued:
They have not thought about the needs or wishes of the community, only the cost.
Literacy skills are not only vital to individuals, but are expected by the community. We have an obligation to assist people with literacy problems so that they can fully contribute to the community.
She then went on to say:
I am surprised that the Liberals -
and another group that were with the Liberals -
have decided to celebrate International Literacy Year by making life harder for adult literacy students. Labor will abolish the TAFE charges for literacy courses when we are returned to Government.
It is true to say that Rosemary Follett had the opportunity to remove those literacy fees in the last Government and chose not to. But it is also true to say that the beginning of that press release did say "when Labor was returned to Government at the next ACT election". So, she had room to move. What we are saying is that she had the opportunity to remove them last time and did not, and it seems to me important for us to set on the agenda now that this Labor Government will meet its responsibilities, will meet its promises and its commitments, and will now be committed to removing those literacy fees in the interests of a most important part of social justice.
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