Page 4833 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 11 November 2009
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Mr Stanhope: What a pity!
MR SPEAKER: I know you wanted to keep going, Chief Minister, but the time on the clock has expired.
MR SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mrs Dunne?
MRS DUNNE: Minister, will you protect the Flynn primary school building for the Flynn community?
MR STANHOPE: Absolutely. To the greatest extent possible and reasonably consistent with our capacity to resource protection for Flynn primary school, we will protect it to the extent that we can. And of course we will, in consultation with the community, find an ongoing, continuing, alternative use for that very valuable resource. My only regret—as, I think, a significant number of the residents of Flynn regret—is that the government was not able to progress this issue earlier, as a result of actions taken by members of the Flynn community in pursuing legal action against the government which they then abandoned when they realised that it would not be successful—and, indeed, when the continuance of that legal action, I think it is fair to say, had no more utility in the context of a political campaign that came to nought.
MRS DUNNE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne, a further supplementary.
MRS DUNNE: What will you do, given this undertaking, Chief Minister, to improve the security at the Flynn school site?
MR STANHOPE: I have actually explained that the government has certain resources and makes certain decisions in relation to the allocation of resources that it has available. We have resourced significant security. There is a back-to-base alarm system. There is constant monitoring. There are regular patrols. Everybody with a responsibility, including police, is aware of issues at Flynn. There are regular patrols. It is regularly monitored. There is a 24-hour back-to-base alarm system. We are doing all that we believe is reasonable having regard to all of our other responsibilities for maintaining security across the whole of the ACT.
If the Liberals would like to suggest where we might lessen security or protection for other schools—which schools they would suggest that we reduce security on in order to enhance it at Flynn—please make those submissions to me and I will of course give consideration, in consultation with the school community that you identify as not requiring that level of security, to actually withdrawing it and applying it to Flynn.
Mrs Dunne, if you have schools that you think are overprotected and where you think we might reduce the level of resourcing, please let me know and I will consult with that school community and we will apply, if they agree, their part, of the resources available, to Flynn primary school.
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