Page 3139 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 August 2005
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explained again for those opposite, who are the ones with their ears shut on this matter. Investigation of the issues being dealt with by cabinet was started by me in, I think, December when I asked for initial advice from my department on some of the issues that I had seen not just at Ginninderra district high but in the west Belconnen area. I asked for some work to commence.
Those opposite who have not been in government before would not understand that the budget is finalised in February-March. That work had not been completed. I was not in a position, not having even half the information, to say, “This is something we have not thought through and we do not have any resources to back some of the ideas that I’ve got, but we’ll shove it in the budget anyway.” We did not actually know the extent of the cost of what I had wanted to argue for in the new infrastructure and the commitment from government. The simple reason that it was not in the budget is that the work had not been done. The work for me to take a proposal to cabinet, to get cabinet’s support, was not completed until June, when I took it the first time, and then again in July when I took it back to cabinet.
I agree with Dr Foskey that the issue here is about how to deliver the best educational outcomes for west Belconnen. The government has a view on that. It is a view that we have put in a comprehensive proposal that we have put forward to the community for discussion over a six-month period. As I have said before, the community will have access to all the information that it has been requesting. All the information that I can provide, whilst maintaining my responsibilities as education minister, will be provided. That includes demographic information. It includes socioeconomic information.
But there are elements of that information which I am sure those who are involved in education, who have an understanding of education, appreciate will not be made public, for good reason. This government has made no secret of its concerns about reporting educational outcomes, making certain elements of data available to the public for use for a simplistic outcome. I have made no secret of that. I stand by that and I will argue the case on that with anybody. So it is not about keeping information secret. All the information that can be provided will be provided.
I have been criticised for not examining other options for the proposed new school prior to going to the community. On the one hand, I should have gone to the community before I had a proposal, before the government had any idea of what was its view on this issue; I should have done that. Now, it is said, “You had not done enough work before you went to the community. You should have done all this work before you actually went public and said that this is your idea.” You cannot have it both ways. The approach that the government took was to say, “Here is our proposal. The idea is for a new school based on this site.”
We went to public meetings. At the public meetings, several questions were asked of me. I undertook to answer every single question asked, which we are currently doing. Some of the questions that kept arising were: “Why do not you build it on the back block of the current site,” or “Why do not you look at a site near Higgins?” I should supposedly have understood all the issues that were going to come up from the community prior to going to the community so that when the community asked me those questions I could say, “Do not worry, I’ve already examined that.” This is the whole point of consultation.
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