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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 378 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

trying to minimise costs by going for the cheapest price arrangement when they were contracting workers. There was also an issue with pesticide use. Some action has been taken since then as a result of the fuss made by parents, once again, on behalf of their children. Also, the issue of transport for children with disabilities came up quite recently. That was another example of how school-based management apparently is falling down.

We have had those sorts of concerns raised over the years. We have also had quiet rumblings about educational outcomes. An inquiry could happen there. It would be very useful, possibly in the next Assembly, to step back and take a look at what we have actually achieved. Mr Stefaniak mentioned that Labor had started school-based management and Mr Wood responded to that. As I understood it, the Labor position involved looking at the decentralisation of curriculum development, which is quite separate from what this government has done.

We had Mr Kennett here this morning and we know that in Victoria that was taken even further and there have been very serious social impacts from that which have been condemned by a large proportion of the education sector. It is by no means generally accepted that school-based management, taken to the extremes that it is being taken now by Liberal governments, has good educational outcomes and social outcomes.

Coming back to the issue of heating and cooling, Mr Osborne has put forward an amendment which says that the minister should spend seven days working in demountable classrooms with 30 children during summer. I think that would be a good idea, but I would not support it because I think that it would be being a little unkind.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Osborne has not moved such an amendment as it would be out of order.

MS TUCKER: He was thinking about doing so and I thought it would be quite good.

MR SPEAKER: Back to the topic, thank you.

MS TUCKER: I think it is relevant to the topic. When I commenced speaking I did raise the question of Mrs Burke turning the airconditioning off in here office. This matter is about understanding what it is like to sit in a demountable with 25 or 30 kids when the temperature is over 35 degrees. It is not okay or acceptable.

Mr Wood: Especially after lunch, with the hot little bodies coming back into the room.

MS TUCKER: Yes. The Greens will support this motion because that is totally unacceptable. The people in this place would not do that. As has been pointed out, it would not be allowed in the older years of schooling. Of course responsibility should be taken. If the government is going to insist on leaving it to schools to manage that, I want to see an energy rating for every school and I want to see account taken of it when the government determines how to respond to this problem.

You cannot say that every school can manage the situation itself. As Mr Osborne said, in his electorate in particular there are lots of demountables. It is obvious that they incur bigger costs. I would hope that we in this place would be interested in ensuring that children are able to learn in an environment that has a reasonable temperature and that

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