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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 10 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 3074 ..

MR PRATT (continuing):

If the government had not buried its head in the sand and dedicated itself to commissioning inquiries-jobs for the boys and girls-then more than half a million dollars could be spent inside the school gate, and they would have no excuse for holding us to ransom with a $7 million slush fund.

Let us talk about that slush fund for a moment. It is about time the minister admitted that this is exactly what these uncommitted funds are. It is remarkable that such uncommitted funds exist, ostensibly to await the outcome of the Connors inquiry, another three months away, when there are urgent activities we know ought to be funded and running now. The new performance-based salary system I spoke of earlier as a concept worth flying with, an expansion of smaller class programs and a bit more money focused on the disruptive and disability children programs could have at least been given a start or a boost by now.

Look at the comments made by education minister Simon Corbell and Chief Minister Jon Stanhope in recent days. On Sunday, 25 August, Mr Stanhope issued a press statement which said there were dozens of major education initiatives which could not be supported in the 2002-03 budget due to funding constraints. What about the $7.2 million of uncommitted funding?

I have been extremely critical of the lack of commitment and lack of initiative shown by Labor in getting important education programs up and running. Now that the Chief Minister has admitted that major initiatives remain unfunded, the community will also be critical of Labor lying dormant when funding for at least some of these programs is readily available from the slush barrels. Most important of all, because major initiatives are not being funded and not running it means that opportunities for schoolchildren are being missed now.

I will talk now about children at risk and disruptive children. Funding has been provided in the student pathways initiatives program focused on enhancing outcomes for students at risk. That is a welcome initiative. Total funding over the next four years is $1.7 million. This is in addition to the indigenous student support program. Pleasingly, the government has continued with these vital programs. They are the types of programs that will assist the schooling system and the community to better deal with the disruptive children challenge-that challenge which goes to the heart of the pressures on our school problem.

I believe dealing quickly with the school environment to make it a better, less disruptive teaching, learning and living environment is a major priority. Therefore, this is an area which deserves additional funding. I do not see much in the way of priority expenditure in this area. For example, there is no mention of funding targeted to increasing support programs aimed at addressing bullying problems in schools or addressing disruptive children.

I turn to drugs education. I have spoken to this issue numerous times, and the community has expressed, and continues to express, its concerns about adolescent drug behaviour. We have seen and discussed the recently handed down ASSAD report on student drugs use. To the community, this report was depressing news. It should have also sounded alarm bells for the government.

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