Page 1265 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 1993
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Legislative Assembly Anniversary : Schools
MR KAINE (10.15): I would like also to note the fact that today is the fourth anniversary of self-government. There are still two people in the Assembly who have had the honour of being Chief Minister, and I happen to be the other one.
Mr Connolly: And it is unlikely to change.
MR KAINE: Of course, things have been downhill a bit since then, but it has been a good roller-coaster ride which, perhaps, is not over yet. I think it is worth noting the progress that has been made in the Territory in the four years since self-government. The Chief Minister refers to some differences between the policies of the major parties. She has focused on one issue and I will make some comment about that in a minute. I think that the four years have been characterised to some degree by a great deal of agreement and unanimity between the two major parties in this Assembly on in which direction we should be going as a Territory. I think that it can be said with some pride that this Assembly has progressed a long way from where it was four years ago when 17 people sat in this room with some doubts about where we were going and what we were here for. We had a different view, some of us, about whether we should be here or not. There has been an enormous advance since then.
I think that those of us who have been around over that four-year period have seen some very significant changes, not only in the confidence of this institution as to what we are here for and what our objectives are but also in the attitude of the general public out there about this place. There is still some residual opposition to the concept of self-government and there is, in fairness, some debate about what form it should take, but I think that we have already made some ground down a certain road and I do not believe that there is any scope for us to change direction. I just do not believe that.
We had a debate this afternoon about the Grants Commission and we alluded to the Premiers Conference and the like. If we were to become a city council tomorrow, who would represent us in the Premiers Conference? Who would put the case for the people of Canberra when it comes to dividing up the big cake over there? A mayor or a lord mayor would not be admitted to the Premiers Conference. So let us be clear; there are some major issues. If we are going to change direction there are some major issues that have to be addressed.
I would just like also to refer to the schools question. It is very interesting that in four years of self-government the Liberals, in a coalition government, closed five schools. The Labor Party has closed one-fifth that number, despite their assertion that no schools would close in their first term. Let us just question who has some conviction about this issue and who has not. The Labor Party, despite standing on the moral high ground, has not said anything about what is going to happen after February 1995. Suddenly, in February 1995, the Labor Party is going to be struck by lightning and see a new vision about education for Canberra and we can suddenly start closing some schools.
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