Page 1836 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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I am looking forward to the commencement of the new secondary campus for the Good Shepherd primary school next year. It will be called John Paul college, named after the great Catholic leader of the 20th century who was instrumental in ecumenical dialogue. There have been delays in progressing the construction of the new campus due to commonwealth environmental assessments which have presented concerns related to threatened species.
The Catholic Education Office originally applied for a direct sale of land in 2004. After going through a considerable part of the process, in November 2005 the office advised the Land Development Agency that the school would not be constructed until 2010 and that it would not be opened until 2011. Under the Education Act 2004—section 83(4)—applications for approval for a school can only be made between two and four years before the proposed opening date. Accordingly, the application lapsed.
The office expressed renewed interest in this original site on 9 June 2010 and reapplied for the site in August 2010. In September 2010 the government canvassed other site options with the Catholic Education Office. However, at that time it indicated a strong preference for part of block 733 in Throsby. The Economic Development Directorate started processing the direct sale application for this site in October 2010. In spite of past environmental assessments, the commonwealth required the ACT to undertake another environmental assessment when approached by the ACT in late 2010 after it received the application for a direct sale.
Because of these environmental concerns and delays, meetings were held between the Director-General of EDD and the Catholic Education Office. The office made clear its new preference was for block 12, section 78 and block 20, section 73, Nicholls. In response to that request, the ACT government is investigating block 12, section 78, Nicholls and block 20, section 73, Nicholls as the potential John Paul college site. We will continue to work with the office to finalise this site.
I would like to commend the Catholic Education Office for their patience and perseverance in this regard. I understand that the Catholic Education Office will seek to register the year 7 cohort of John Paul college on the site of the Mother Teresa school. It will later apply to relocate the secondary campus when an appropriate site is ready. I noted in the Canberra Times yesterday that Catherine Rey, the principal of Merici college for the past 10 years, has been appointed foundation principal of John Paul college. I offer her warm congratulations on taking on this new challenge.
Except for those opposite, the ACT has long ago left behind the debate on private versus public schools. Each system provides value and should be appreciated for the rich choice it offers Canberrans. The relatively high numbers of non-government school students in the ACT makes collaboration between sectors even more important. The recognition of the importance and value of the different school sectors in the ACT is reflected in the ACT government’s approach to ensure we fund all schools appropriately.
I totally reject the assertion on funding in Mr Doszpot’s motion. In fact, this government has delivered record funding to Catholic and independent schools in the
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