Page 4079 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 13 December 2006
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a fair result for ACT education I would say no and I would say that it did not have the evidence to back it up either.
MRS BURKE: Minister, given the feedback from the citizen’s jury on disability services in the ACT, what further involvement will you facilitate for parents of children with a disability to ensure improvements to their education?
MS GALLAGHER: That is really a matter for the education minister. I am sure that he will look at the results of the report card and look at areas to improve their responsiveness to parents, if there are concerns coming out of that process. As I have said, for the parents that speak directly to the department of education the satisfaction rate is very high. That is not to say that you cannot improve your processes; there is always room for improvement. But, in terms of the department doing more, over recent years they have gone to enormous lengths to deal with the issues that parents have raised to make sure that we are adequately resourcing the sector. In fact, I am just looking at that now: $4.1 million over four years in the 2004-05 budget and another $4.2 million in the 2005-06 budget to support students with a disability.
Many people will say that resourcing is not the answer, but for students with a disability it often is because it is about creating good learning environments and having adequate supports for these children at school. As I said, I do not want to discount the report card because I think that it is an important way for us to make sure that we continue to look at how we provide services to people with a disability, and perceptions are an important part of that, but this is a matter for the education department and I think that it is a matter that they have really worked hard on over a number of years and that it is an area in which they do exceptionally well. I am sure that the department and the education minister will take note of the report card and look at areas in which they can improve their responsiveness to parents.
Parks and gardens—watering
MR PRATT: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for the Territory and Municipal Services. Minister, could you please detail the current practice concerning the timing of watering public parks, gardens and ovals around Canberra?
MR HARGREAVES: There are an enormous number of different types of them. Some are school ovals, some are public parks, some are very large recreational parks like John Knight Park and the Tuggeranong Town Centre Park, and some are neighbourhood parks. I do not carry that information around on the top of my head, but I will be happy to get the information and get back to the member.
MR PRATT: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. If you need to take this on notice, please do so, minister. Given the upcoming stage 3 water restrictions, which are coming into effect on 16 December, how will the ACT government ensure that the watering of public parks, gardens and ovals will not be wasted during daytime hours and will, instead, adhere to the restrictions being placed on the people of Canberra?
MR HARGREAVES: As I said earlier, there are different types. Some of our ovals are in fact watered by grey water and some are not. The government is particularly
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