Page 1852 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services) (4.27): I will just speak briefly. I was not intending to speak on this motion but, in light of the accusations levelled at me by the Leader of the Opposition, it is important to put on the record my support for non-government education in the ACT.
I thought we had got to a position where we were trying to remove the us versus them line and the traditional lines of “Labor doesn’t support non-government schools and the Liberals do” and the—
Mr Doszpot interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Hargreaves): Order, Mr Doszpot!
Mr Doszpot interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot, there is a list.
Mr Doszpot interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Chief Minister, resume your seat. Mr Doszpot, I asked you twice and you did not comply with my request to you, twice. And the third time, the next time, you are going to join this list. Am I clear, please? Chief Minister, you have the floor.
MS GALLAGHER: Thank you. I must say that I think there must be a direction that every time I open my mouth in this place any Liberal in the room has to start screaming so that I cannot be heard. We see it all through the day. It is just disruptive and disrespectful.
I thought we had moved past that divide that has existed and been stirred up every now and again. We usually see it around election time, from my memory of being in this place. Usually about six months before an election the Liberal Party start going out and saying, “The Labor Party doesn’t support non-government schools.” They have no evidence for it. Nothing in the work that we have done to support non-government schooling over the past few terms would support that.
In relation to some of the funding issues, I will go back and have a look at when the Liberals last governed in this town, because my memory is that some of those serious funding issues arrived for historical reasons. Yes, we can try and address that. If we had loads more money I think we would as an Assembly pour it into educating our children and making sure that, regardless of where those children go to school, they get access to the best quality education ever.
There is a very important role for public education. Public education is the safety net of all education. It is, Mrs Dunne. You may roll your eyes, but for people who—
Mrs Dunne interjecting—
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