Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 4 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 847 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

I must say that seeing Minister Stefaniak in front of a crowd brought back some of the memories that I had of Mr Humphries's pathetic response. Mr Speaker, Minister Stefaniak, in front of a group of people in the community, I think, gave a pathetic performance on the issue of his knowledge about preschools. The Minister refused to confirm or deny anything; but, significantly, he refused to rule out closures. After all those election promises and all that rhetoric about community consultation, once again the community got to see what these Liberal promises and statements were all about. We were also reminded of the Government's action on schools in relation to Charnwood High School, where the Government said that it would not close schools against the wishes of the community. The community said no; and the Government reduced the funding for the school, forcing the board into a corner in relation to the issue.

Mr Hird: We did not close it.

MR BERRY: Mr Hird interjects, "We did not close it". The holders of the moneybags did not close it; the purse strings closed it.

Mr Hird: What about the schools you closed?

MR BERRY: Well, the community closed it.

Mr Hird: Yes, forget them.

MR SPEAKER: Order! I would remind members - - -

MR BERRY: Mr Hird, why were you not at the meeting at Hawker preschool to defend the preschool?

Mr Hird: Because I was interstate.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Hird, come to order.

MR BERRY: I would remain quiet.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, I would remind you to be relevant to the motion before the house. It is preschools we are discussing.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, I would not be so distracted if you kept some of your party members in order.

MR SPEAKER: I am endeavouring to do that.

MR BERRY: You will have a lot of trouble. Mr Speaker, the Canberra Times told us that the champion of education, Mr Moore, had decided that preschools were not an education issue; in particular, the one that he had defended in the past was really a planning matter and not an education issue. I found that quite surprising coming from somebody so committed to the education system. Then the Minister announced to the public meeting at the Hawker preschool that preschools were not part of the education system; they were something else; they should be treated differently.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .