Page 1603 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 19 May 1993
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MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, what Mr Cornwell does not understand is that there is a starting point for everything. Ms Follett has explained that very well today. We are going to look at curriculum in terms of what is happening nationally.
Mr Kaine: So you made the decision first and you are going to consult afterwards.
MR WOOD: Not at all. We have made a policy decision to do that. It is, I might tell you, part of - - -
Mr Kaine: Decision first; consultation afterwards.
MR WOOD: No, not at all. It is part of ALP policy, so do not ever be surprised at what emerges through that process. When we say things, we actually do them. I sat down yesterday with the P and C Council and we discussed this proposal. We discussed a whole range of issues. I sit down with that council regularly and talk through things. That council, which like the whole of the school community is a very strong representative group, will be involved, because that is the way curriculum is done in the ACT.
Mr Cornwell: Why didn't you tell them earlier?
MR WOOD: I am trying to say things to you, Mr Cornwell. I know that you do not want to understand. I will try not to use my teaching style because it upsets people sometimes. I am trying to say to you that somewhere, at some stage, the proposal has to emerge. Do you understand that? It has to emerge at some stage. It does not come down magically from somewhere and filter into everybody's head. The whole curriculum in the ACT - and Mr Cornwell knows this because he has been quite actively involved in it - is community based. Anything we are doing with curriculum, more than most things, is being very extensively put around through the schools.
MR CORNWELL: I have a supplementary question. Will you be issuing a media release about this school based curriculum to encourage other people to put in submissions?
MR WOOD: The full consultative process will be gone through, Mr Cornwell.
Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre
MRS GRASSBY: My question is directed to the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning, and it is a very important question. In the light of the Sydney Morning Herald's article on 17 May of this year about the impact of phosphorus on river pollution, could the Minister please tell the Assembly what is being done to address the problem at the Lower Molonglo treatment works?
MR WOOD: I did pick up that article in the Sydney Morning Herald. It jumped out at me because I am aware of serious measures, for example, through ANZECC to look at the phosphorus that comes from dishwashing materials. I know that we have taken steps in the ACT to be sure that we discharge as little phosphorus as possible into the river system from the sewage treatment works. The Lower Molonglo treatment plant claims repeatedly, and probably accurately, to be a leader in Australia. That is Mr Connolly's area.
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