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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 2 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 470 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

question "What would you do?" can be thrown back at you. This is a comment by a range of departments on a number of issues. It is as simple as that.

Mr Humphries: Then rule it out.

MR WOOD: No, I am not going to rule it in or out. I have not considered it. In fact, I passed over that particular briefing fairly quickly. There were some briefs to which I paid more attention.

Mr Humphries: I am not surprised. I would burn it if I were you.

MR SPEAKER: Let the minister answer the question.

MR WOOD: I have answered the question, Mr Speaker. It is not an in or out business. It is not on my agenda particularly. It was not part of our pre-election commitments. We did not commit anything in that respect, and it is as simple as that.

MR STEFANIAK: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Mr Wood, do you have a policy then of treating all town centres equally and, if you do, what does this imply for other town centres? Finally, I always thought incoming briefs dealt with the policies of the new government.

MR WOOD: Go back and read those briefings. They raise a whole lot of issues from the former government as well as raising issues from within our government. It is as simple as that. You ought to read a little more carefully.

Class sizes

MR PRATT: My question is to Mr Corbell in his capacity as education minister. In the current budget, under which your government continues to operate, there is provision for a reduction in class sizes down to 25 for years 1 and 2 in government primary schools this calender year. How many additional teachers were employed this year to implement this initiative of the Humphries government?

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, if Mr Pratt cannot ask Mr Stefaniak that question, I am happy to get the information for him.

Gungahlin Drive extension

MS TUCKER: My question is directed to the Minister for Planning, Mr Corbell. Mr Corbell, at various times during the election campaign, and afterwards, you said that the ALP was committed to building the Gungahlin Drive extension on the western side of the AIS to the same timetable as the former Liberal government and that you would also be conducting an environmental impact assessment of the western alignment. To me these statements seem contradictory. If you have already decided to build the road, what would you hope to achieve by undertaking an environmental impact assessment of the route, which, if done well, should also assess the possibility that alternative development options may be better than what is being proposed.

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