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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 7 Hansard (2 July) . . Page.. 2227 ..

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell says that I am making a fool of myself. She is now going to walk out of the place, showing her arrogance and indifference to the Third World working conditions which are being encouraged in our education system. If, for no other reason, this budget were rejected, that would be enough. For a government to encourage those sorts of labour practices in our education system is nothing short of an absolute disgrace.

Another matter of concern in education is the CIT cuts. Let me give an example of a problem that they have created. I had a call from a constituent whose son cannot continue to receive woodwork tuition in the CIT because the position has been cut. Cabinet-makers, as you would know, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, are in high demand: Try to hire one. There is a compelling need for apprentices in the area, but the excellent teacher in that area in the CIT has had his job taken from under him as a result of the cuts to the CIT. This Government is committed to outsourcing as much of the CIT as it can. It is not committed to training. Look at how it had to be wrestled to the ground with the construction industry training levy legislation which I introduced earlier this year. This Government has an appalling record on training, as it has in relation to eduction.

This budget is dishonest. It is dishonest because it continues with the broken promise and it cuts more from education. The Government is deserving of being reprehended, as was the Chief Minister the day before yesterday in relation to the Bruce Stadium matter, because this behaviour is also reprehensible. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to see an education system which produces a quality product for our community. You cannot produce a quality product for the community if you are underfunded and you have funding withdrawn. The cuts to our college system will impact on students. There will be fewer classes.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Berry, you are now into your second 10 minutes.

MR BERRY: Thank you. There are going to be 131/2 teachers cut from our colleges.

Mr Stefaniak: Positions, not teachers.

MR BERRY: "Positions", Mr Stefaniak says. Somebody has to fill them, Bill. If you have a position and nobody is in it, that is one less, and it is usually one teacher. I cannot imagine that the teachers would be working overtime. They might be called in as temporaries and that sort of thing, but it is still a job whichever way you go. Those jobs and the services that they provide to students in our colleges are the victims of this additional cut to the college budget. Incidentally, this Government never said before the last election that it was going to implement such a cut. The Government made clear to the community that it would not.

There will be fits of denial from the Government about their approach in relation to this matter, but the facts are clear. The Government has cut education twice. Mr Moore has tolerated it twice and endorsed it twice. The Minister went to the last election with lots of golden promises and has not delivered on them. This education budget has not delivered on them and it will not be supported.

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