Page 4012 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 5 December 2007
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MR SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Burke!
Mrs Burke: Sorry, Mr Speaker; it’s been a trying day.
MS MacDONALD: Mrs Burke claims that she was out-voted, but she made no fuss about this until the day of the hearing.
Mrs Burke: I did not; that is not true. Withdraw.
MR SPEAKER: Mrs Burke, you will have the opportunity to speak later in the adjournment debate.
Mrs Burke: I’m going to say some good things, not bad things.
MR SPEAKER: You can’t say anything unless you’ve got the call.
MS MacDONALD: Mrs Burke made no fuss about it until the day of the hearing, which was Wednesday, 28 November. Last year, the committee also devoted a day to discussing Health. It was always the intention, and had always been discussed within the committee, that we would be calling on areas other than Health at this year’s annual reports hearings, because Disability was not called. That was the decision taken by the committee.
Mr Seselja: It’s a lot of money—an important portfolio.
MS MacDONALD: I have said all along that we would not focus on Health as much, but we did have an hour which was dedicated to Health. We had dedicated an entire day to looking at the Health budget last year, so we did not need to spend as much time on it this year.
I am absolutely disappointed that Mrs Burke has chosen to put out a media release and has not got the facts correct. It would be good if she would go and check her facts. Just because Mrs Burke says something is the case in a media release does not actually make it the case. It is important that those in this place know that Mrs Burke has once again got it wrong. If she had a conscience, she would go back and check the minutes and she would discover that she got it wrong.
Education—system
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (6.12): Tonight is a very special night for me and my family. I want to pay tribute to the education system in this town. My youngest child, my younger daughter, is tonight attending her school formal. She is a Narrabundah college student and they are having their formal at the National Museum.
Any parent who has come to the end of this education process knows that it is a mark as much for the parent as it is for the child. My daughter has turned 18, which makes her of a legal age, but the other thing is that I feel as though I have done my bit. I have got her through school. While I will always support her, the rest is, to a very large extent, up to her. I have taken her to the water and now it is up to her to drink.
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