Page 4232 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 20 November 1990
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School Closures - Hackett Primary School
MR WOOD: I direct to the Minister for Education a question concerning Hackett Primary School, and I note that he too has picked and chosen from Hudson, as all people will. You have not accepted everything he said - witness the buses at Lyons. However, Mr Hudson has stated that costs attributed to Hackett Primary School for heating and for major maintenance are doubtful. He questioned those figures. These incorrect costs were shown in budget papers to support the closure of Hackett school and they feel very deeply about that. Will the decision to close Hackett be reviewed as you survey new figures on the real costs of keeping Hackett Primary School?
MR HUMPHRIES: Once again, Mr Speaker, members of the Opposition choose to accept other things from the report. The fact of the matter is that Mr Hudson brought attention to what he considered to be problems with calculating the costs of heating as attributable between Sports House and other parts of Hackett Primary School and came to the conclusion that, nonetheless, there was a good case for closing the Hackett Primary School. Mr Hudson had evidence before him. Mr Hudson clearly examined the issues to which Mr Wood has just referred and yet Mr Hudson still came to the view that the school should be closed. Once again it is not possible to steal bits and pieces from the judgment handed down by the judge and yet then ignore that judge's verdict.
Petrol Tax
MR STEVENSON: My question is to the Chief Minister. I have been contacted by a small business operator who is concerned that their business will be forced to reduce in size because of ever-increasing government taxes. They ask: Why is the tax on petrol not being set aside to be spent on roads, firstly, and, secondly, why do public servants and MLAs receive cars and heavily taxed petrol which is paid for by taxpayers when small business people have to pay their own? Why are they not also required to outlay the money and claim it back at tax time?
MR KAINE: The first part of the question, Mr Speaker, had to do with the question of the allocation of the 3 a litre franchise tax to roads. Mr Stevenson obviously has not done any research at all or he would know that we are already spending more on roads than we collect in franchise tax anyway, and there is no need for any more money than that to be spent on roads in the ACT. I think the last thing you could say is that there is some deficiency in the roads in the ACT. For anybody to suggest that our roads are in such poor state of repair that they need additional money spent on them is absolutely ludicrous.
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