Page 3950 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
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It does concern me that after five years in this Assembly, and for most of those as shadow minister for disability, Mr Doszpot clearly has one disability policy, and we find ourselves here today discussing an autism school, for all its merit, for the third time this year.
I have stated in this place the government’s willingness to discuss the AEIOU’s proposal further, and we remain open to considering how the government could support their expansion in the ACT. Indeed my office has been in contact with representatives of the Ricky Stuart Foundation in recent weeks, and a meeting has been scheduled within the next week or so to discuss the details of their proposal. The government is always interested in investigating new and innovative ways to deliver services to residents of the ACT.
But rest assured, Madam Speaker, that I will be mindful of how any new proposal in the education and disability landscape fits in with the major reforms that we are implementing and the suite of initiatives we took to last year’s election in our comprehensive disability policy.
I would also like to touch briefly on the question of costings that Mr Doszpot raised in his motion and which the AEIOU has raised with members of the Assembly. Let us not forget that the Canberra Liberals’ policy to build and operate an autism school was submitted to Treasury for costing, and Treasury found that the Liberals had grossly underestimated the capital cost and that they had submitted costings for a school for 20 children, not the 40 that they had promised. So we do need to be very careful about understanding the full scope of new proposals, and that is why I am happy to discuss the proposal further with the AEIOU and the Ricky Stuart Foundation.
The correspondence that I think Mr Doszpot was referring to clearly states that a family cost for this program per placement is over $20,000 per child, and the government also makes a contribution of over $20,000 per year per child.
I also think it is important to address another matter canvassed in Mr Doszpot’s motion concerning the proposed centre at the University of Canberra. I am concerned that the approach taken here by the Canberra Liberals in this matter over the last few months may be prejudicing conversations being had between the University of Canberra and the AEIOU Foundation. I think this motion and the ones before it are assuming a level of progress that, from our conversations with UC, does not exist.
I am not aware of any proposal from the AEIOU and UC that has reached the level where government assistance or support are being sought for establishment. The only recent correspondence that I am aware of in this matter was sent on 22 October from AEIOU stressing their interest in pursuing this issue in a bipartisan manner and to seek a meeting with the Chief Minister or me to discuss this further, and I am certainly prepared to do that.
Given this lack of, I guess, official request, and as a result of this motion, my office made contact with the University of Canberra yesterday to seek an understanding of what level this proposal is at. We were told by the University of Canberra:
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