Page 4155 - Week 13 - Thursday, 25 November 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
There is a proposal which Mr Wood is implementing to reduce the number of school based positions. It will involve looking at those areas that the Auditor-General focused on. Mr Moore in his remarks said, "Yes, there is scope for delivering the efficiencies that the Auditor-General found in some of those classes which are grossly underutilised. Yes, there is scope for efficiency there. But you should not slash the education budget. You should target education. You should show your commitment. You should treat it like health, and spend a little bit more".
Madam Speaker, that is exactly what we have done. We have done what Mr Moore urges us to do. If he had done his research he would not have made the statement that he did. In fact, the expenditure this year is above the expenditure last year, and that level of increase is greater than for health. We are constantly disciplining ourselves and our officials to deliver every dollar we spend more efficiently and more effectively. If that is what you are criticising us for, you are condemned by your own remarks, because you said that we should strive for efficiencies.
MR HUMPHRIES (12.24): I wanted to deal with a couple of the myths and fallacies that have been put about by the Labor Party in the course of this debate. The first thing that really gets me is that here we have a government saying, "You are dastardly people for daring to actually close four schools", when they themselves, in fact, are responsible for more school closures in this Territory than anybody on this side of the chamber is. I repeat the fact that the Australian Labor Party, of which Ms Follett was the ACT president in 1987 and 1988, closed six schools in the ACT during that period. Ms Follett claims, "We did not really favour that. We were really so upset and we were rent and cut to the core by these awful school cuts that were going on". I do not recall your saying that on television, on the radio or in the newspapers.
Mr Kaine: Or even in private.
MR HUMPHRIES: Or even in private, for that matter. I do not recall your lying in front of the bulldozers when Fisher Primary School was being closed or when - where does the Chief Minister live, Downer? - the Downer Primary School was being closed. Where was Ms Follett when her local primary school was getting closed by a Labor government? She was backing them up; that is what she was doing.
Mr Kaine: She was saying, "I will drive the bulldozer".
MR HUMPHRIES: That is right. She was saying, "Come on, guys. We need the money".
Madam Speaker, when my party came into office in 1989, we sat down and looked at the important question of education budget savings, which Ms Follett and her colleagues now say is a very important issue we cannot ignore. They were certainly ignoring it from 5 December 1989 to 6 June 1991. In that period we did not hear any of those words we have heard today - not one gasp of them. Madam Speaker, when we came to office, we started looking at this important question. My department, the Education Department, was very quick to point out - and they produced the figures - that in the vicinity of 11,000 - - -
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .