Page 2520 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 23 August 2006
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MRS DUNNE: I table the following papers:
Towards 2020—
Copy of letter to Members of the Legislative Assembly from Mrs Dunne, dated 19 June 2006.
Joint press release by Mr Stefaniak and Mrs Dunne, dated 13 June 2006.
Mr Corbell asked what the Liberal opposition would do. I will tell you, Mr Speaker, what the Liberal opposition would do. We are not going to stand here and say, and no-one has ever stood here and said, that we will not close schools. The Liberal Party has never said that it would never close schools, but I can tell you that we will not sit around for five years saying that there is no problem and then suddenly announce that we have to close 40 schools. We will not close down schools to make up for our inability to control spending and incapacity to live within our means, even in the good times. We will not close down 40 schools to save two per cent of the education budget, especially when they are putting six times that amount into other parts of the education system. We will not close 40 schools after telling you categorically that we will not close any. We will not announce 40 school closures and then pretend that we are consulting after the event.
Mr Corbell: What will you do?
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Corbell!
MRS DUNNE: We will not close schools to attract people to come to the government school sector.
Mr Corbell: What will you do?
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Corbell!
MRS DUNNE: We will not close down schools in order to test new combinations—
Mr Corbell: What will you do?
MR SPEAKER: I warn you, Mr Corbell.
MRS DUNNE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. We will not close down schools in order to test new combinations of age groupings. We will not tell you about the maximum utilisation capacity of schools, because capacity is not the issue here: education is. A day may come when we have to do the sums—if I am the minister for education, I have to do the sums—and we decide that a particular school should close or a particular cluster of schools is not as viable as it once was. If I do have to do the sums, I will not ignore the educational benefits of small schools, I will not ignore the costs that are imposed on parents when schools close and I will not ignore the disruption to people’s lives because, as a conservative, I do not believe in ripping up institutions, especially institutions that people in this town, year in and year out, generation after generation, have put their heart
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