Page 1108 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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(b) there is no contingency plan in place to enable Alkira and Gumnut to continue operating in their current premises until the Flynn facility is fit for occupancy; and
(c) accordingly, there is likely to be considerable disruption to the operations of Alkira and Gumnut and the families who use their services when the move to Flynn is to take place; and
(3) calls on the Minister to, by the end of this sitting period:
(a) table in the Assembly the final:
(i) upgrade plan;
(ii) plan of works;
(iii) current budget; and
(iv) works timetable; and
(b) brief the Assembly on:
(i) the financial and other assistance the Government is providing to Alkira and Gumnut for the amalgamation and the move to Flynn;
(ii) the Government’s contingency plan for the continued operations of Alkira and Gumnut at their present premises in the event the works timetable is not met; and
(iii) what other action the Government is taking to address the continuing shortage of places in West Belconnen in particular and Canberra in general.
I am pleased today to raise with the Assembly the important issue of childcare in west Belconnen because this is an issue of considerable concern to the families and the childcare providers in my electorate.
We need to have a little bit of history about childcare in west Belconnen and a little bit of history about some of the other activities of the Stanhope government to put some context around why this is an important motion. In the 2010-11 budget the ACT government made a commitment to spend what seems like a very large sum of money, an extraordinary amount of $4 million, to upgrade a portion—only a portion—of the former Flynn primary school so that it would accommodate a childcare facility of somewhere in the vicinity of 110 places; I have been to meetings about the development of this and that is still uncertain.
A little later, in June 2010, the minister for community services announced that the new centre would be occupied through the amalgamation of the Alkira childcare centre and Gumnut Place childcare centre. You will recall that the plight of Gumnut was an important matter in 2009 when they were threatened to be thrown out on the
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