Page 3553 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 September 1990
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with the school representatives several times and discussed the issue with them at some length, and I am convinced that there could be no misunderstanding based on what was clearly said by me.
What I told the school was that I would review the circumstances relating to the decision on Weetangera school and, if that led to doubts in my mind as to the validity of the decision we had made, I would institute a review. I met with the representatives of the school some time after that. I think it was probably in the region of three weeks after that original offer - it was on a Sunday - and I advised them that I had carefully examined the evidence and in my view it was not appropriate to review the decision in a more formal sense. That was the clear advice that I gave to them at that stage. Of course, subsequently this was discussed in the Government and that view was affirmed.
In respect of the way in which the advice was conveyed to those at Weetangera school, I believe that about a week after that decision of our Government a document was sent to the school which amended the grounds on which the Government considered the closure of the school appropriate. That rationale was amended to acknowledge the strength of some arguments that had been put forward by the representatives of Weetangera school. It was an acknowledgment that the Government had put emphasis on certain factors without warrant.
That was the basis on which I reconsidered the evidence in respect of Weetangera school. However, the argument that I put to those parents and to the Government was that, in the circumstances, although some arguments were less reliable than others, certainly the evidence still pointed very firmly in favour of the closure of Weetangera Primary School. That was the basis of the Government's decision and that was the basis on which it was conveyed to those people at Weetangera.
Children with Intellectual Disabilities
MR STEFANIAK: My question is directed to the Minister for Education. Minister, what is your attitude to the placement of children with intellectual disabilities in schools, and who can have input into that placement?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Stefaniak for his question. My position on this matter is quite clear, and it is reflected in our Government policy on disability. That policy encourages the mainstreaming of children with disabilities. This may be, of course, a full integration of those students into a regular class or into a special class within a mainstream school, or supported integration at regular intervals.
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