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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 3 Hansard (27 May) . . Page.. 659 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The task before us is quite large and it is very important. I think some of my colleagues in due course will be making some comments in this debate about what it is that we are going to do in the coming budget, or the approach we are going to take through this coming budget and future budgets, to be able to achieve that level of attack on that problem which is going to justify the magnitude of the problem. The former Chief Minister, Ms Follett, used to talk about dealing with a number of budgetary problems through what she called nip and tuck. I think a lot of nip and tuck has been relied upon by governments of various sorts over the last few years. To some extent, nip and tuck has been a favoured tactic, even in the last couple of years. Mr Deputy Speaker, there is not much room for nip and tuck left. We have to make some substantive decisions about what we can afford to purchase and what our city will look like in the future.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you, in the course of this debate earlier on, made reference to the Auditor-General's report just released on the management of preschool education. I have not had the benefit of being able to read the report as quickly as you have, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I have looked at a few parts of it. (Extension of time granted) Mr Deputy Speaker, you made reference to the comments in here about the inefficiency of the provision of preschool education in the ACT, and my short reading of this report suggests that that is a serious problem. I quote from the report:

The audit's opinion that provision of preschool Education services are inefficient and uneconomic is based on the following findings.

... roughly half of the preschools being utilised at less than 50 per cent capacity, with approximately another 12 preschools (14 per cent) being utilised at less than 70 per cent ...

Mr Deputy Speaker, I think your comments came as near to suggesting that we should maybe close a few preschools as I have heard in recent times.

MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: No; they are not to be so construed.

MR HUMPHRIES: If there was a flavour of that in the air as you spoke, Mr Deputy Speaker, then - - -

Mr Kaine: No more than 25, Mr Humphries.

MR HUMPHRIES: Twenty-five. That is a good number. I like that number. It has a ring to it, has it not, Mr Kaine? Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to draw attention to one particular sentence in this report, and it is on page 12. It says:

The clear indications from this audit are that preschool services are very effective -

that is a different word from "efficient" -

but also costly.

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