Page 479 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 13 February 2013
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MS BURCH: If Mr Doszpot had had any communication with the P&C council over last year, he too would have known that the P&C council and the canteen associations had some concerns about the viability of canteens. There were about 86 canteens, about 51 operated by P&Cs. I think there are about 20 that are outsourced.
Canteens have changed. Certainly canteens have changed since I was a student. They have changed since I was a volunteer at my kids’ canteens, and rightly so. Some of those changes have included a focus on healthy foods, a focus on food safety. These are right and proper changes to have occurred.
Our million dollar investment—and it was a commitment and we are going through that budget process, and it was earmarked to start in the 2013-14 year—was a two-pronged approach. It was to look at, on some advice from the P&C association, online purchasing and buying power but also—
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, members!
MS BURCH: They are not interested, Madam Speaker, so I have finished my answer.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Coe, Mr Seselja, that was far too noisy. Your voices do carry. A supplementary question, Mrs Jones.
MRS JONES: My question is to the minister for education. What is the government’s preferred model for school canteens—that is, should they be assisted, to be run by the school, or does the minister have a preference about whether they are contracted out?
MS BURCH: I think my preference is for a school canteen to be the decision of the school and the P&C community. It is not for government to come in and impose a model on the school community. Mr Doszpot has made an implication in his questioning that we are interfering too much. And by Mrs Jones’s question, it seems that she wants us to interfere a little bit more. These are decisions for the school. We have put a million—
Members interjecting—
MS BURCH: When they are prepared to listen, I will continue.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Yes, Madam Speaker.
Members interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, members! Ms Porter has the floor.
Ms Gallagher interjecting—
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