Page 4774 - Week 11 - Thursday, 20 October 2011
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decision has been brought to the stage that it is at at the moment. The minister has so far not given me any indication of whether he is going to give me that information. In the last sittings you mentioned that in due time this would be provided, Mr Barr, but this has not happened.
Chief Minister, I am sorry that you were not down here yesterday when we were debating a few points about Mr Barr. I have got to say that what really concerns me about Mr Barr’s attitude in this University of Canberra-CIT affair is that he is not only the minister for education but also the Treasurer and the Deputy Chief Minister. Yet he is adopting a very cavalier attitude about his responsibility—to the ACT Assembly, to the community and to all of us—to make these decisions and to understand the implications. I believe he is totally cavalier in this.
I think he is also very cavalier regarding his financial responsibilities and the requirements to keep this Assembly informed. Chief Minister, your much vaunted open government policy is showing enormous cracks, if not downright contempt for your stated policy, through your Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer and minister for education.
Yesterday we also talked about the number of backflips that have occurred in the areas that Mr Barr has been involved in, especially in education and the disability-related areas of education, where I think the number of backflips outnumber the total number of backflips that may have occurred through any other minister’s areas. One of the things that we have not looked at is why such backflips occur. Is it because there is not enough consultation? Is it because there is too much haste in the decisions Mr Barr makes? Or is it just downright bad decisions—bad decision after bad decision? And when the community finally wakes up to what has been proposed by the minister or his department, then, after a huge public outcry, a Barr flip occurs each time.
Chief Minister, I think that it is also your responsibility. You said that you have responsibility for all of your ministers. It is high time you looked at the record that Mr Barr has—and why all of these Barr flips need to occur and why we have to re-examine all of the decisions that he makes. It is no secret in this place that, based on these comments, I have very little confidence in the current education minister. But even if I did, I would be pressing for a more transparent process, a more rigorous examination of the contributing factors that have led to these two institutions.
We need to know what the driving factors are. The best way to have that public scrutiny is through the standing committee on education in the Assembly. I thank Ms Hunter for her amendment. As I said, we will be supporting her amendment and I commend Ms Hunter’s motion to the Assembly.
Ms Bresnan’s amendments to Ms Hunter’s proposed amendment agreed to.
Ms Hunter’s amendment agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
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