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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 8 Hansard (19 August) . . Page.. 2856 ..

Mr QUINLAN (continuing):

But let me just add to that, Mr Speaker: the troubled times that Mr Stefaniak went through trying to find money for teachers gave rise to such expenditures as Fujitsu contracts. Couldn't afford the teachers, but FAI wasn't a bad deal. That was a good deal! Impulse Airlines in the latter days, that was another good deal. Couldn't afford the teachers, but, yes, the odd V8 car race. Stick a few million into that, but keep the teachers down to 1 per cent. "You've got to keep a balance,"that's what he said. "Keep a perspective."Of course. Bruce Stadium, $80 million. But these are troubled times, these are hard times, teachers. One per cent for you. Candeliver came and went. Cost us three or four mill. That could've kept a few teachers going for a while.

I think really we've started to lose a little perspective here, have we not? They were tough times, Bill. They were tough times if you had the education portfolio, Bill. They were tough times if you didn't really have a cabinet. They were the tough times if the cabinet was made up of Carnell, Walker and Lilley. Yes, Bill, we do accept your thesis that you had a hard time. But that's where it stops.

Mr Stefaniak: Caused by you.

MR QUINLAN: Well, keep claiming that, Bill. But those were desperate days. It gets desperate when you get to that stage.

I will conclude by repeating that I really, really enjoyed Ms Gallagher's lesson industrial relations 101, and I do think that one of the first principles of financial management 101 is: make sure that you can live through next year and the year after, before you ramp up recurrent spending as you would do.

MRS DUNNE (8.47): Mr Speaker, it's really entertaining to see the thespians Gallagher and Quinlan. It was Gallagher and Lyell, wasn't it, in the good old days? But I have to say: if you ever have to give up your day job, don't do that one because, really, you are doing your turn about: "We're better financial managers than you; look, we're the workers friends more than you are the workers friends; we've always been the worker's friends, so you can't be."The idea sucks. Oh, come on, let's get down to it; let's talk about the teachers.

Let's look at the point that Ms Dundas raised here. Teaching, like nursing, is a feminised industry and, in a country like Australia, people think that women's wages aren't as important because they're second-string wages; they've always got husbands to supplement their income; they only want to work part time; they want to go off and have children. So they're feminised. As a result, you don't pay people what they're worth.

Do you read your emails, Katy? Do you see the number of teachers who write and say the things that they do?

Mr Stanhope: She probably doesn't read them before you do.

MRS DUNNE: Oh, we're so witty tonight. Oh, go to the top of the class. But I particularly like this one who writes to Ms Gallagher:

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