Page 2807 - Week 08 - Thursday, 24 August 2006
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I did receive correspondence from Mrs Dunne indicating that she would have carriage of this matter on behalf of the opposition and I responded accordingly, providing her with a full briefing on the response to the particular incident that the members opposite referred to. It is with great sadness that yet again we have had this exercise in self-aggrandisement. They want their bit of the action, seemingly. At this point it is worthy of no further comment tonight, other than to say that it is with great regret that we have had to deal with this issue yet again because those two members seem unable or unwilling to respect what is an intensely private matter for a particular student within our system and seem to have no regard at all for the damage that their public comments make.
Turning to some of the other issues that have been raised, I note that Mrs Dunne seeks to make a big thing of the accounting treatment of the writing off of particular assets. It is simply an accounting treatment. That does not mean that the assets disappear; they remain ACT government property. If the Towards 2020 proposals proceed in full, as outlined, the budget does contain provision for $6 million in 2006-07, $40.5 million in 2007-08 and $16.4 million in 2008-09 as write-off for those schools, but it is included in the other expenses line. It is a non-cash adjustment and is simply accounting treatment. I am sure that, were it not to appear in the budget, there would have been as many questions and concerns raised.
Mrs Dunne also referred briefly to the territory’s performance in VET. It was with great pleasure that, during the dinner break yesterday, I was able to speak at the ACT’s training excellence awards and able to report on the territory’s very fine performance in vocational education and training. I was able to make the point at that function that over 30 per cent of the people who had completed their training by the end of December 2005 and achieved a certificate IV, a diploma or a higher level were in areas that were identified as skill shortage areas within the ACT, and that the national average was only 11 per cent. In fact, the jurisdiction next closest to the ACT was Tasmania with 17 per cent.
The level of satisfaction with our system from both trainees and apprentices at 87 per cent and from employers at 85 per cent shows a very strong vote of approval for the local VET system. It is perhaps disappointing that the quality of the outcomes that we are getting are being run down by the opposition. In looking forward, particularly in looking at the direction in which there is agreement across all states and territories and with the commonwealth about the need for simplification in VET, the need to reduce the layers of bureaucracy and to ensure that there are better direct lines with industry, the direction the government is heading with the skills commission is, I believe, the right direction. It is again with some sadness that, given the fine results that we have been achieving in the ACT, the opposition would seek to run down that performance.
Looking at the more specific issues within the budget, it is again of great concern that the opposition have indicated that they do not support the injection of $90 million of capital funding into our public education system and that they seem opposed to the provision of $20 million over the next four years for the smart schools, smart students program. Mrs Dunne constantly harps about the proposed new school in west Belconnen, saying that it will never be built. I am pleased that the government has been able to fund that in this budget and also the Gungahlin east primary school, a new facility there. The sum of
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