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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 4 Hansard (21 April) . . Page.. 1084 ..

MR BERRY: It was closed.

Mr Hird: Who amalgamated it?

MR BERRY: It was closed.

Mr Hird: Yes, but who amalgamated it?

MR BERRY: It was closed. Spence school was closed, with the approval of the Minister. Of course, the school board there got the blame as well, because the school board recommended to the Minister that they close it. That school was closed without the consultation with the broader community that would have occurred had Labor contemplated the closure of that particular school. People are still saying that the wrong campus closed. That is where the difference is.

Mr Wood: That is what the community decided, if I can interject, Mr Berry.

Mr Hird: They did that at Spence, too.

Mr Humphries: That is a Labor closure, is it? The community does it for you?

MR BERRY: Labor's position in relation to schools has always been about consulting with the community. Mr Humphries should not interject. He should hang his head in shame, given his performance in education. He had the population of the ACT in uproar over his position in relation to schools. I was one who joined the campaign against those closures. Happily, it was a successful campaign. Happily, Flynn school in your electorate, Mr Hird, is open because of that campaign. Happily, Cook school is open because of that campaign, a campaign which Labor freely joined.

Under Labor governments schools might close, but I can tell you this: They will never close unless the community is consulted under the terms set out in our policy. It will be the community that close them in the end, not the Government. That is the important difference between us and the Liberals. We are not absolutely opposed to closing schools. We are keen to keep them all open, and we will keep as many open as is possible in the circumstances.

We endorse a broad-based school system. We are not infatuated with the dollar and school closures. When we say something, we mean it. When we say that we will preserve education funding, we will preserve education funding and not do as this Government did last budget, when they cut education funding. Education funding was cut and the self-proclaimed guru of education, Mr Moore, stood by and applauded it and pretended it did not happen. There were substantial cuts to the education budget which in the long run will affect schools.

Mr Speaker, I return to the matter of public importance, the importance of options for schooling into the next century. There is no doubt that there need to be clear options for the community in relation to schools. We need a broad-based school system, an accessible school system, one which encourages high levels of education for our community, because the success or therwise of our community will largely depend on

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