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need to do sport. With the very serious problems of health and obesity, is this the only solution? Do we need to look at a wider range of things so that the people who are at a health risk from inactivity are given the appropriate experiences at school, not simply forced to undertake physical activity which they find distasteful, for which they cannot see the reason, and for which they end up not thanking us. We want our students to come out well trained in this area.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Sport and Recreation) (11.52): I have listened with interest to what Ms McRae has said. I think virtually all of the concerns she has raised have been taken into account, are continuing to be taken into account and have been raised - - -

Mr Berry: By whom?

MR STEFANIAK: By the department, Wayne, and also by me. There has already been considerable consultation. A number of groups have seen me, from principals on.

Mr Berry: In Victoria.

MR STEFANIAK: No, not only in Victoria; in the ACT. The points Ms McRae raises have been raised and are relevant and are ongoing concerns.

Let us get back to where this all started, which was the Senate inquiry into PE and sport in schools, which included the ACT. In a statement on the summary of findings and recommendations, the Senate committee concluded that physical education was being dramatically reduced throughout schools in Australia and that there was a lack of political commitment to address the problems associated with the provision of quality physical education. Ms McRae is asking for a system-wide task force incorporating relevant expertise and a further inquiry, effectively. On the face of it, if one did not know the facts, that might seem reasonable. However, in all the circumstances, setting up a task force to formalise policy development, consultation and the implementation of new initiatives is not really necessary, because virtually all the groundwork has been done. We do not need to reinvent the wheel.

The Government is able to base its plans and its hopes on a number of extensive reports: The 1991 Australian Sports Commission survey; the 1992 Senate report on PE and sport in schools; the 1992 Aussie Sports report; the 1993-95 ACT Government PE and Sport Consultative Committee report; the Australian Secondary Principals Association’s sport education policy; and the Moneghetti report into physical education and school sport in Victoria, which Ms McRae has already referred to. We can see that in a real sense the research has been done, and I think it is time to see how we can implement something that is going to work.

Mr Berry: All the evidence says that we are doing it right here.

MR STEFANIAK: The evidence unfortunately does not, Wayne. Why do you not ask Joan Perry, representing ACTSport, and maybe even people in the department too, about how we are not necessarily doing it right and how we can do it better?

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