Page 4187 - Week 13 - Thursday, 25 November 1993
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APPROPRIATION BILL 1993-94
[COGNATE PAPERS:
PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
STANDING COMMITTEE - REPORT ON 1993-94 NEW CAPITAL WORKS PROGRAM - GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
ESTIMATES - SELECT COMMITTEE - REPORT ON THE
APPROPRIATION BILL 1993-94
QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - PAPERS
AUDIT ACT - TRANSFER OF FUNDS - PAPERS
COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION REPORT ON
GENERAL RELATIVITIES - MINISTERIAL STATEMENT]
Detail Stage
Remainder of Bill as a whole
Debate resumed.
MR KAINE (4.31): Don't they squirm, don't they twist and turn to try to avoid the obvious? Mr Connolly, of course, has gone. He does not want to hear the rebuttal to his argument. The proposition put forward by the Opposition in this amendment is no different from the proposition put by the Government in bringing their Appropriation Bill before the house. Mr Wood is asking for an appropriation of approximately $330m, of which $203m is for the government schools, and he said, "Somewhere in there we are going to reduce the number of teachers by 82". Let me ask Mr Connolly the same questions that he asked. Where does Mr Wood intend to take the 82 teachers from? Is he talking in globo? Is he talking about the whole system? Does he intend to specify which schools?
Mr Wood: Where I want.
MR KAINE: Exactly, Madam Speaker. All this amendment does is say to the Minister, in the same terms that he is putting to us, "We do not agree that you should do it". Whatever it is that you intend to do to get rid of 82 school teachers out of your system, we are saying to you, "You may not do that". It is as simple as that.
Mr Wood: You just talk nonsense. That is what you have done.
MR KAINE: It is as simple as that. At some time over the next eight months, when Mr Wood sits in his office on the fifth floor and says to his senior advisers in the Education Department, "How can we take 82 teachers out of the system - - -
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