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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 8 Hansard (25 October) . . Page.. 2008 ..

Mrs Carnell: Exactly the same approach was taken with Griffith.

MS McRAE: We are getting nothing but a history lesson, which is what I said we would get. There is no hiding behind history, no hiding behind name-calling, no hiding behind gleeful calls of hypocrisy and all the other nonsense that the Government has put upon us.

The real issue still has not been dealt with, and my question has not been answered. Why was option 1 put up? Why was option 1 put up as a possible viable future for Charnwood High - I remind you that option 1 was the amalgamation of Years 7 and 8, and 9 and 10, together - and no time and no support given and no effort made to make it a viable option? This school was willing to go ahead with a small staff and an unusual structure, and when they said, "We need assistance to make this option work", it was not given. No-one has yet told me why. Those opposite have got a big thrill out of calling it cheap politicisation. I will let the people who were at the meeting decide that for themselves. They know what I said. They know what I offered. I offered to run this motion if they supported me. That they did. No-one at the meeting said - - -

Mr Kaine: Big deal!

MS McRAE: I will let them judge. You can call me any name you like. You can mock whatever you like. Those people were given - - -

Mr Kaine: I have not called you anything.

MS McRAE: I have been called lots of names this morning, but that is fine. Name-calling is fine. It just shows the level to which you will descend rather than answer the basic questions. They have not been answered. You have mocked my comments about buses. Fine. You tell that to the parents who are worried. It was trivialising a point. The people who spoke to me had genuine concerns. They should have been treated with the respect with which I treated them. You can laugh at whatever you like. You can offer alternatives. Some parents will worry. They are allowed to be worried. As Michael Moore says, there is one solution with one bus. It might not be the solution for the kids going to Belconnen High; so the problem is there. It is yet another example of how this Government does not listen and does not respond.

Let me put on record the story of Narrabundah Primary School. On the same day that we heard about the resources being removed from Charnwood High School, which was the day after the budget, we had phone calls. We knew that the same thing was to happen at Narrabundah Primary School. We were asked, "Please do not intervene. There are different people who are working on this, and we believe that we can get a resolution". You did not get a squeak out of this Opposition. We did not go public. The people who wanted to intervene did intervene. Mr Connolly then went along to the meeting, not I, and the resolution was found. Similarly, with this school, we were asked not to yell and scream and lead the charge until this public meeting was held, and we have honoured the community wishes. We talk about false hope. Where is the false hope? Let me point it out fairly and squarely, here and now. This Government said, "We will not close a school if the community does not wish it".

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