Page 2583 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 23 August 2006
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been appropriately apportioned the time of the Assembly and its committee structure. The Liberal opposition believes that a comprehensive inquiry as set out by the Leader of the Opposition will provide the government of the day with a clearer picture of where school closures may be required and reformation of the system. The Stanhope government may well continue to espouse that it is consulting widely and that it is faced with the dire issue of a 30 per cent fall—as pointed out today by Mr Corbell—in the usage of the public education system in the ACT. If such a decline is so evident, why has the Stanhope government taken such a rash decision to shift straight into closure mode?
Mr Gentleman asked in this Assembly today what plan the Liberal opposition has concerning the expenditure of some $90 million on capital for the education sector. I am confident that having a full and frank inquiry would be the first step, given the Stanhope government has now, in what seems like an instant, taken the decision without reviewing the consequences and backlash it must surely have realised would be bubbling just under the surface across the electorate. My colleague Mr Seselja has adequately pointed out there is a plot behind all of this that is not that hidden if you look at it. The minister is smiling, so obviously we have hit a bit of a nerve.
An inquiry into the education system in the ACT cannot be undertaken lightly. Last September my colleague Mrs Dunne asked the Stanhope government to form a select committee to look into the establishment of a new school—for example, in West Belconnen. The call for the formation of a select committee was well intentioned. The Chief Minister did not want to have any examination of the potential impact, both negative and positive, such a new super school would have had on the community. Almost a year later the opposition, and indeed the Canberra community, are poised to watch the proposed closure of 39 schools across the territory. What a quantum leap in policy direction that is.
Ironically, all this occurs in a budgetary period, when the government has signalled an apparent $90 million capital injection into the education portfolio while, at the same time, writing off in the order of $65 million in capital. In essence, the opposition is putting to the Assembly that we should take stock of the current state of the government education system in the ACT, seek further input from the community and relevant organisations associated with education and deliver comprehensive findings via a proper reporting process that is attached to an inquiry. Much has been said about what happened in the early 1990s. Consultation would have been the key word there. The consultation that happened in the early 1990s was full and open and frank, not like we have had here, when people knew their schools were closing via the Canberra Times.
I touch on another of the terms of reference, namely the provisions for students with disabilities in all areas of the ACT education system. As of August 2005, 1,722 students received special education resources in ACT government schools. Assembly members must agree that is scant funding to support the access and participation needs of an increasing number of students with special needs who attend government schools. During the estimates hearings, the Minister for Education and Training was questioned about how the government, once school closures commenced, would be able to deliver specialist education services to children in some 19 schools that cater specifically for students with some form of disability. It is apparent that no plan is forthcoming.
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