Page 3642 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 8 December 1992

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Mr Humphries: How do you know?

MR BERRY: None of you have done it. Where are they?

Mrs Carnell: We are not debating it in detail.

Mr Humphries: We have not got to the detail stage yet.

MR BERRY: I rest my case. The community will be your judge.

Question put:

That the motion (Mrs Carnell's) be agreed to.

The Assembly voted -

AYES, 9  NOES, 8 

Mrs Carnell Mr Berry

Mr Cornwell Mr Connolly

Mr De Domenico Ms Ellis

Mr Humphries Ms Follett

Mr Kaine Mrs Grassby

Mr Moore Mr Lamont

Mr Stevenson Ms McRae

Ms Szuty Mr Wood

Mr Westende

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS FUNDING - INQUIRY REPORT
Paper

Debate resumed from 19 August, on motion by Mr Berry:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

MR CORNWELL (9.28): Madam Speaker, this report of the inquiry into territorial funding of ACT non-government schools, otherwise known as the Berkeley report, is a report that the Government was obviously reluctant to debate. It was released to the community, I remind members, in July of this year during an Assembly recess, but not tabled in the Assembly at that time, of course. It was formally tabled in the Assembly in the second week of the August sittings and only, I might add, after prodding by me during question time. Why is the Government not keen to debate the report? I put it to you, Madam Speaker, that it is essentially because the Government is really in a no-win situation.

The report has made various recommendations that, if implemented by the Government, would end up alienating either the government school sector or the non-government school sector, and perhaps both in one or two cases. Despite the obvious dangers to the Government, however, I believe that the report does need to be debated. It cannot be ignored. It cannot be ignored and needs to be debated, Mr Wood, if only because time and money have been expended upon it.


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