Page 3107 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 15 September 1993
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This is particularly interesting to me as Health Minister as well. Sport plays an important role in the development of the community. Some sports might be excluded when it comes to the injury list; but, in general, participation in sport is healthy and it leads to a better quality of life out there in the community. As a government we have been very proud to have been able again to deliver for sport. We have been congratulated by the president of ACTSport, and we welcome that, and the executive director of ACTSport has welcomed the maintenance of funding for sporting organisations. All this is good news, I think, for the sports budget and for the future of sport here in the ACT.
Education Budget
MR CORNWELL: Madam Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister for Education. I refer to the Minister's media statement yesterday which, in part, said that overall this year's budget requires the government schooling program to achieve savings of 2 per cent. He went on to say:
Most of the reduction will be achieved through economies in operating costs which will not affect the level of service to schools ...
Minister, how can you make that statement when we have a reduction of approximately 80 school based positions announced in your budget?
MR WOOD: It is a statement of fact. Actually, I am surprised that Mr Cornwell was prepared to ask a question today. I have been trying to get a concerted view from the Opposition about education. We have had three spokespeople in education - Mr Cornwell, Mr Kaine and Mrs Carnell - and they all seem to be saying different things. Mrs Carnell's view more recently, like Mr Cornwell's, has been, "Do not worry about the kids down in Banks, Gordon and Conder and those places; do not worry about Palmerston and Ngunnawal and Nicholls; we do not need schools there. Apart from knocking down existing schools, we do not need new schools". That has been the Liberal Party policy, as far as I can ascertain.
Mr Cornwell: There is to be a reduction of 80 school based positions. Would you mind answering the question? That is not going to help the new schools.
MR WOOD: If you went further into the papers, Mr Cornwell, you would see the items there. We are making 2 per cent savings, adding up to $3.48m. There is a further productivity saving, as a result of enterprise bargaining, of $750,000, for a total saving of $4.25m. Of that, school based salaries for the positions come to $1.5m. That is, effectively, in the half-year from January next year. That is where the 80 positions are affected. I point out that $1.5m is quite a deal less; about a third of the $4.26m total savings.
In strict answer to your question, the statement I made in my media release is absolutely correct. I might further say that education is of the highest priority for the Labor Government. Given the Grants Commission figures, which Mr Kaine frequently uses - Mr Kaine is the one who says that there is room for significant cuts in ACT education - showing that we are very much in excess of State levels
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