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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 2 Hansard (5 March) . . Page.. 579 ..

MR PRATT (continuing):

types of disasters seen on 18 January. In our risk management thinking we must consider that bushfire disasters of a similar magnitude-perhaps never quite as bad as that, but disasters nevertheless-will revisit the ACT community, and we do need to be as well prepared as we possibly can be.

MR WOOD (Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Urban Services, Minister for Arts and Heritage and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.48): Mr Pratt, as he has done in the past, has made a number of comments about this matter, some of which are fine and some of which I would sound some caution about. However, he tended to cover most aspects.

As a teacher over many years, I was much accustomed to good ideas being brought up and to being told that our schools ought to doing this, that or something else. I can tell you, our schools are pretty busy. You could do a lot more if you wanted to extend the school day. That might please some parents but I think we need to think most carefully about what we do in schools.

I want to comment initially on schools, which was one of the aspects mentioned by Mr Pratt. What happens in schools is generally based on centuries of experience and certainly, in more recent times, on a great deal of research. What happens in schools is based on good evidence. I have not yet seen any evidence that trying to teach a kid not to light a fire can work. Where is that evidence? It sounds great, and I know Mr Pratt has very carefully and properly spelt out the difficulties and the circumstances around those children who actually like to light fires.

Let me give you an example of what happened when I was education minister. Unfortunately, at various times, such as during school holidays, there is vandalism around our schools. We had an agreement with the media that they would not report vandalism which was not of a major nature because we knew that such reporting could very often lead to more such incidents. I might say that that conclusion was not heavily based on research; it was pretty much based on anecdotal evidence and experience. So just talking about something does not necessarily mean that it is going to be successful.

I certainly agree with what Mr Pratt said about children being taught at school to be aware of the dangers of fire and that they should be taught what to do in circumstances where perhaps they are alone and are confronted by fire. I do not have any difficulty with that. But I heard him make quite a lot of comment about mandatory bushfire education, and I just want to sound a note of caution. I am just not convinced. But by all means alert children to what they might do to ensure their own safety.

Gosh, I can go back to my days at primary school when we had air raid drills and that sort of thing. Do you remember those days, Mr Deputy Speaker? We had contests to see how long it took us to get down to the trenches that had been dug, to the shelters, or whatever. I am not sure we should go to those lengths. In most circumstances, I would expect children to be under the care of their parents and they should take their advice. But there may be circumstances when they are caught out. Perhaps something untoward may occur at home and they are on their own. I have got no objection to some awareness, but I am very nervous about the concept that we can teach children-and I do not think Mr Pratt is saying this-not to light fires. I just do not think that can happen.

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