Page 1255 - Week 05 - Thursday, 31 May 2007
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Thursday, 31 May 2007
The Assembly met at 10.30 am.
(Quorum formed.)
MR SPEAKER (Mr Berry) took the chair and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.
Minister for Education and Training
Motion of censure
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (10.31): Mr Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion of censure of the Minister for Education and Training for failing to correctly answer a question in question time yesterday and for failing to correct the record afterwards.
Leave granted
MRS DUNNE: I move:
That this Assembly censures the Minister for Education and Training for misleading the Assembly in his answer to a question from the Leader of the Opposition on Wednesday, 30 May 2007.
Yesterday in question time, Mr Stefaniak asked the minister the following supplementary question:
Minister, is it the case that some schools do not report the incident to the police and that some school authorities have actually discouraged parents from reporting to the police?
In answer to that, Mr Barr said:
I am not aware of any. No instances have been brought to my attention whereby there has been a flagrant breach of any of the protocols that are in place.
I was quite alarmed when I heard Mr Barr say this, because of my recollection of some correspondence that passed between a constituent and Mr Barr and me, my office and Mr Barr’s office, and me and Mr Barr. So I went back and checked the record and yesterday afternoon I wrote to Mr Barr in the following terms:
I refer to the statement you made in the Assembly today in answer to the supplementary question from the Leader of the Opposition.
In answer to the question about whether schools report all incidents of violence to the Police and whether some school authorities have discouraged parents from reporting to the police you said:
I’m not aware of any—no instances have been brought to my attention whereby there has been a flagrant breach of any of the protocols in place.
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