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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (6 November) . . Page.. 3722 ..

Mr Berry: I will prepare the flick pass.

MR HUMPHRIES: I am not in a position to go and conduct an investigation in the next couple of hours before the Chief Minister comes back. I will raise the matter with the Chief Minister, in the form that Mr Osborne has presented it to the house, and I have no doubt that the Chief Minister will discuss it with Mr Stefaniak.

MR OSBORNE: I have a supplementary question. Minister, will you, at the very least, instruct Mr Stefaniak to come into this place today and explain himself, so that we have the chance to hear for ourselves whether he was misleading this house or misleading the public via WIN Television?

MR HUMPHRIES: If you ask Mr Stefaniak a question, Mr Osborne, I am sure he will answer it as truthfully and as capably as he is able to.

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Education. Minister, there have been complaints about students being forced to wear agreed school attire as part of the code determined by the board of the school and that some have been excused from class because they were not in the correct attire. Minister, what are the rules that apply to schools enforcing school code requirements?

MR STEFANIAK: Mr Wood, I think I am aware of a couple of pieces of correspondence in relation to one particular school where there were some concerns about parents not wanting the kids to wear the colour code. I believe I took that up with the school principal. That was several months ago. I am unaware of whether there has been any problem since then. Certainly, the parents concerned have not got back to me. Where school boards want a colour code - I think you, as Minister, initiated one at Wanniassa High School, with the consent of the school board there - that is obviously very desirable, but there are some people who do not wish to abide by that. My understanding is that in those instances their wishes are to be respected. As I said, I had a couple of pieces of correspondence earlier this year in relation to that which I think were resolved. If there are any outstanding issues in relation to that, or if any person still has a problem, I would be interested to hear about it.

MR WOOD: I have a supplementary question. Can you ensure that students do not miss a class because of these circumstances and that things can be negotiated in other ways?

MR STEFANIAK: My understanding of these instances that were drawn to my attention is that things were negotiated, Mr Wood. I would be interested to hear if anyone has been forced to miss a class.

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