Page 769 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 1 April 2008
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classic from Mr Hargreaves: “We made a mistake in 2006 on the buses because we didn’t talk to the drivers or the passengers. Yes, we got it wrong.” So here we have minister after minister after minister who failed to consult appropriately and who failed to undertake real consultation. The same Canberra Times article this morning stated:
School board chair Michelle Wright said she had been told over the phone by a departmental spokeswoman that they wanted the children moved out of their classrooms before the end of the year in order to complete renovations.
The response—
from the department—
came after Ms Wright wrote to the department seeking clarifications on “rumours flying around” that the school would close in July, rather than in December.
“I was told options included either moving us to Yarralumla early … conducting all the classes in the school hall for the rest of the year …
All the classes, minister, not just the physical fitness classes but all the classes in the school hall for the rest of the year. The article continues:
… or moving the children around other parts of the building.”
Yes, we are going to have consultation, and it will occur on Thursday. But the minister has already made the decision now, so what is the value of this consultation? I do love the last line of this press release. The press release is headed “Communities to be consulted on school transition”. The last sentence reads:
“The ACT Government will also work with the communities—
perhaps it is “work over” the communities—
of Narrabundah, Isabella Plains and Southern Cross schools on their transition to P-2 schools,” Mr Barr said.
Well, Mr Barr has been caught out. Mr Barr has been caught out well and truly on the consultation sham that the ACT government runs. I can direct you, Mr Barr, to that part of the ACT government website which outlines your consultation protocol which your government constantly breaks. You might as well simply take it off the website because you do not follow it and you do not believe it.
The other interesting thing about public education is that the government reforms of 2006 have magically produced an enormous crop of little babies to attend preschool. It is fantastic: I did not realise that government policy was responsible for procreation! I did not realise that a government budget could actually deliver more kids. The minister claims that an increase in the number of students in early childhood education in the ACT could be attributed to families responding “to the government’s early childhood education policies and programs”. I would have thought it would be
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