Page 4247 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 20 November 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
to Peter Harrison. He said, "What else should a town planner be but articulate, consistent, purposeful and occasionally objectionable? In all these characteristics we feel you have excelled". I think that was a great tribute to Mr Harrison on his retirement from the NCDC.
There is no doubt whatsoever that he was an articulate man and a man of vision, a man of passion who was never afraid to carry through his ideas in an extremely purposeful way and who was also never afraid, in defending that vision and defending his view of Canberra, to be quite objectionable on occasions. I think we have all probably experienced that. But he was a greater man for those characteristics. So, we members of the Labor team join in this motion of condolence and offer our sympathy to his widow.
Question resolved in the affirmative, members standing in their places.
SCHOOL SYSTEM
Discussion of Matter of Public Importance
MR SPEAKER: I have received a letter from Mr Wood proposing that a matter of public importance be submitted to the Assembly for discussion, namely:
The failure of the Alliance Government to administer the ACT school system effectively.
MR WOOD (3.40): Mr Speaker, to date the Government has demonstrated its failure to plan the ACT school system effectively. When the Minister, Gary Humphries, announced in March that 15 to 25 schools were to close, he was announcing a planning debacle. It was apparent then that no pre-thought was given to his proposal, and that has become increasingly clear since.
His proposal gave no consideration to the children, who are surely the prime point of interest in our education system. Press reports at the time quoted Mr Humphries as saying, "Nothing will be sacred in our search to save money". Certainly, the education of our children has not been sacred. I want to discuss the complete lack of planning and the very negative impact that that has had. It is interesting that I should do so following the motion of condolence.
It was clear that such a statement was going to be ill considered so early in the life of a new Minister. I think it was barely three months from the time the Government took office. It was simply too early to make the mammoth changes that would be involved in closing up to 25 schools. It was clearly an off-the-cuff decision, and the community has suffered since. It is no simple process to make any changes, certainly in our schools, where the process is so much more complicated and so much more complex if Mr
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .