Page 3315 - Week 10 - Friday, 26 August 2005
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increase that to three operators, but there will be three operators only between the hours of 7 am and 11 pm, what they consider to be the 86 per cent peak period. I see the TWU again expressing concern that that will not be sufficient. On behalf of my old comrades in the TWU, I would ask the minister to have a listen to their concerns and see what can be done.
There is another point I would like to refer to. Yesterday there were a couple of points made in the tolerance and respect MPI which I think are worthy of note and comment. Dr Foskey raised a very interesting point. She said that many of her mother’s generation remain intolerant to the Japanese. She was rather concerned about that. I would simply like to comment that my dad was fairly tolerant of the Japanese after World War II—and he fought against them at Milne Bay and on the Kokoda Trail. You can understand why members of that generation are bitter.
I would simply like to ask Dr Foskey if she would be a bit more sympathetic to the views of that generation and remember that, while they might be a little bitter and perhaps a little intolerant now, their views were formed against very hard, harsh circumstances and some fairly terrible memories. I think that, when we review Australian history, we need to remember often the comments and views made and held by people in the context of that historical timeframe. We do not often do that. Too often when people rewrite history they do not remember those sorts of circumstances. Unfortunately, it is a view we see on the left of politics when things are rewritten and previous generations are criticized, when perhaps we should have a lot more sympathy for the conditions they were operating under at the time.
The other thing Dr Foskey said is that going to war is terrorism. I would disagree vehemently with that. The free Iraqi army, at the moment fighting the Ba’athist insurgency, are fighting and combating a group of terrorists. Are they terrorists because they are going to war against these people, or is it more likely that the Ba’athist terrorists who are deliberately blowing up women and children are indeed the true terrorists? Let us not blur the edges on these issues.
Centre for inclusive schooling
MRS BURKE (Molonglo) (10.48): I would like to bring to members’ attention an interesting project that has come up lately called the centre for inclusive schooling, which comes out of Western Australia. I rise to talk about this today in light of what I believe is an alternative approach to addressing the many needs of young people in our community with a range and varying degree of disabilities.
I consider this to be a very practical approach. The school was formerly known as the district service centre for disabilities and learning difficulties. I think the new title of centre for inclusive schooling is great. The word “inclusive” has been used in this place somewhat this week, and I understand the Chief Minister has the pet project of the community inclusion board and fund. I think I have been consistent in saying, as have my colleagues, with regard to the some $8.5 million that we see spent on a range of things—and I am not knocking any of those organisations or the money that has gone to them—that this seems to be a holistic approach for young people.
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