Page 4267 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 22 September 2010
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going into about half a dozen pages on ACTION’s website, you cannot even work out how to get to the parliament or a place in the parliamentary triangle. It is just not working. It is something that we can easily do a lot better. It is just a matter of the government deciding that information technology is a major way that the people of Canberra get information. We need to do it quickly, we need to do it accurately and we need to do it in a way that people can understand and use less energy.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Amendment agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
Schools—truancy
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (11.22): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes:
(a) the policy adopted by the Councils of Australian Government in April 2009 that all people aged under 17 should be working, training or in school;
(b) that if not managed properly, truancy becomes a significant social problem; and
(c) that truancy is an important issue that needs to be collectively addressed by the ACT government, schools, parents and local communities;
(2) endorses the recently publicised efforts of the principal of Lanyon High School in seeking to address truancy problems at his school by engaging local shop owners at the Lanyon Marketplace; and
(3) calls on the Minister for Education and Training to express his support for the Principal of Lanyon High School, and all ACT principals and teachers, in addressing truancy problems.
It is a sad indictment of the government that we should be debating a motion like this to defend a principal in his proactive stance to address truancy at his school by engaging the school’s surrounding community—in this case, the businesses at the Lanyon shops. In return for Mr Bill Thompson’s valiant efforts, the government unreasonably says that he is committing an unlawful act. A written statement by the government stated:
The ACT Discrimination Act 1991 makes it unlawful for a provider of goods and services to refuse service based on a number of attributes, such as age, and any retailer considering refusing service should be mindful of these obligations.
This was prefaced by the following statement:
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