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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 7 Hansard (21 June) . . Page.. 2400 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

The difficulty with the government in relation to education it that it is sitting on its hands while other states are doing more and more with their systems. That is why the money which is being wasted on free school buses would have been better allocated to educational opportunities for students in our schools.

I have been involved in the education committee, which Ms Tucker chairs. We have seen at first hand the areas of need within our school community. The government has taken some initiatives this time around, and many of those initiatives will be good building blocks upon which to develop further initiatives, especially when that money from the free school bus system is properly allocated.

A lot has been said about education in this budget. I think the next election in the ACT will be about education. It is certainly showing up in the community as an issue of concern, and one which will lead to a change in the way business is done in the ACT after the next election.

We have seen a few unpalatable things happen during the period of this government. Take the long, drawn-out dispute with the teachers union over a wage increase. A welcome wage increase was achieved in the end, but how long was that seething industrial dispute allowed to persist, affecting the quality of the education of kids in our schools? It was settled recently in the form of a wage increase for teachers.

Mr Stefaniak: Have a chat to the union. I do not think they will agree with you.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Hird): Order! I compliment you, Mr Berry, for understanding standing order 42 when you are addressing the chair. Thank you.

MR BERRY: Well understood, Mr Chair. I could not forget it. That was a sorry episode in our education system. Take the stand-off with the school bursars. Remember the nickname you earned, Mr Minister-Bill the bursar basher. Low-paid workers were screwed to the ground over an industrial dispute which was really quite cruel. Workers were stood down when they wanted a fair outcome on wages. That sort of industrial thuggery in our education system does not lead us anywhere.

We see another example of it in health. The government has tried to stand over nurses in relation to wages and working conditions. It looks as though that is going to be a dispute for somebody else to settle.

We saw the early attempt by the government to close down Downer preschool. Some lessons were learnt from that, and there has been a far more sympathetic view of our preschools since that unfortunate event. The Downer episode energised people within the preschool community to be more vigilant about their preschools. The leadership of the association has changed over the period, but they are certainly a more energetic and active group of people as a result of that incident.

They were unhappy incidents during the period of office of this government. I know the minister will say that they have spent $99 million over three years, or whatever it is, essentially for the teachers' pay rise and to keep up with inflation. That does not take into

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