Page 2277 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 August 2006
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When the P&C council asked the same question of that same official, they were told exactly the same thing: “We do not need a consultation framework because there will be no school closures.” Forty school closures later, we are here today challenging those members of the government who in one forum had the guts to say, “At least we need a bit more consultation.”
It is quite true that no-one has come out and said, “The government is wrong.” They have come out and said, “The government’s consultation process is wrong, it needs to be longer.” That is why today we are discussing a motion that says that the consultation and decision period of school closures should be extended until the end of March 2007, and further that no school closures occur before December 2007. These are the words that five people in this chamber were prepared to vote in favour of at their federal conference last week.
We also know that there are eight other people in this chamber who were prepared to vote for that. Both Dr Foskey and I—on behalf of the Liberal Party—have introduced legislation today with essentially those elements in it. Five and seven of us plus Dr Foskey makes 13.
We know that, of the five who voted the other day, two have shown themselves to be completely lacking in integrity. They came out afterwards and said, “It was not us; it was however many faceless men and women of the left who made us do it.” So either they had no integrity or no will—or no capacity to judge what is right.
There are still three members. Unfortunately, one of those members is not here. It is a shame that Ms MacDonald is not here. Seeing that she has already alienated herself from her former faction, from her present faction, from the government and particularly from the minister, in her apparent desire to stand up for the community, it is a shame that she could not be here to stand up and be counted today on this vote.
There are other people present who voted that day in favour of this motion that the government extend the consultation and decision period on school closures until the end of March 2007, and further that no school closures occur before December 2007. Those people have had the integrity not to come out and say, “It was not me; it was the 36 faceless men who made me do it.”
Those people, along with Ms MacDonald, have been around the town attending meetings, putting out newsletters and generally bemoaning school closures. Some Labor members have been more vociferous than others in opposing school closures when they have gone to school meetings, and some Labor members have a longstanding history of being opposed to school closures. But today is crunch time.
We might not get to this vote until next week, but whenever this vote is taken it will be crunch time. It will be an opportunity for those members who voted in favour of this motion on 29 July to be true to themselves and true to the community. Mr Gentleman, in particular, has particular need of rehabilitation after his reported goings on in the estimates committee. He has to do something to redeem his reputation to show that he is a gentleman by name as well as by nature.
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