Page 1348 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 April 2019
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circumstances. Ms Lee has said that this process has never ever been about demonising schools. If that is really the case, the opposition will not have any problems with my motion today.
Ms Lee may try to hide behind her claim that it is not for me to dictate how the committee operates. As she knows, I am not, and could not even if I wanted to. I have made a reasonable request of this Assembly on an issue that is in the public interest, but it is up to the Assembly to decide the issue. It is up to all members of this place, particularly the opposition, to follow through and be consistent with what they claim this has all been about.
I ask members to carefully consider the motion and support the motion so that we can allow opportunities for members of our community to share their stories in a way that does not result in collateral damage of people who might not wish to be named or who are vulnerable within our community.
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (11.19): I thank Minister Berry for bringing on this motion today for debate, if for no other reason than it provides an opportunity to set the record straight on a number of aspects of this very serious issue. A Canberra Times article in early February of this year about students being victims of bullying and violence in schools was triggered by a letter written in early November 2018 to the Education Directorate by a group of about 30 parents known as “concerned parents of a Tuggeranong primary school”. They spoke of the escalation of violent incidents at their school over the 2018 school year, the bullying and violent outbursts their children had been subjected to and their frustration that little had been done at the time of the assault to prevent further injury or after the assault to prevent a reoccurrence.
The directorate replied, thanking them for their letter and assuring them the school was taking these issues seriously. One of the authors wrote again on 19 November advising of two more incidents and again on 26 November advising of two further incidents. The Canberra Times article indicated that the incidents at that Tuggeranong school were not recent and that the incidents referenced were not only from one school. In fact, some incidents were reported in early 2018 and the year before, all without resolution or a successful response.
The Canberra Liberals properly set out to seek further information from the minister at various Assembly question times. We learnt that it was only after the media highlighted the issue that the school arranged to meet and talk to parents. We learnt that the minister believed schools had policies in place to ensure that children are safe at school.
During a motion that the Canberra Liberals brought on for debate in February, the minister spent more time rewriting and speaking to the motion and voting it down than she had spent talking to affected parents who had sought her assistance. The parents at the heart of this saw through the minister’s stalling and avoidance and started a petition. They worked hard to get signatures from parents, teachers and concerned residents across Canberra, both in paper form and online.
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