Page 2813 - Week 09 - Thursday, 27 September 2007
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haven’t read the terms of reference” or, “They’re wrong. We know what’s best for their kids.” It is a fundamental problem that people know they are not being listened to, that they are not being respected. They know that the assets that their taxes have paid for, the reasons why they moved into particular communities, the reasons why they have spent all that time and energy raising money for their P&Cs are actually being discounted.
I would say that a lot of the property that is being disposed of was actually purchased by communities. I do not know how the government draws the line on the division between stuff that was paid for out of their grants—I suppose there could also be commonwealth grants in these equations—and where it comes out of community effort. But this is what people are seeing. I take my hat off to the people who are still engaging in these consultations, because so much faith was lost and so many people feel, “Why bother? It’s a foregone conclusion. The very thing that we most want is ruled out as an option.” Mr Hargreaves was actually being scathing when he said “only” 30 people turned up to the consultation on Monday night. Thirty people in this situation, in this context, is a damn lot, and every one of them deserves respect, because they are still fighting for something that they see as important in their community and certainly to their children.
So I am starting from that basis, Mr Speaker. I am starting with respect for the people who are still fighting for their school sites. In some ways, I have a great deal of sympathy for the consultants who have been engaged. I had a conversation with one of them last week at a meeting on another matter where he just happened to be. I feel that we have to separate the consultants’ efforts from the context in which they are performing these consultations. I believe the consultants want to make every effort to allow people to get their opinions across, but already so many options have been ruled out and the time line has been reduced to such an extent where consultation is almost meaningless. It is not quite meaningless, because it can still be salvaged; it can still be salvaged if people are really listened to.
The ruling out of schools having any access to these sites, whether they are private or public schools, or people wanting their government school to be reopened, really needs to be addressed. I am like many people who have had representations from schools. I guess the one that really blows my mind is Blue Gum community school, which is an existing school. It is a popular school; people choose it because it fills a niche which public education does not fill. It is not Steiner education—I think you would have to say that about it as well. Many of the independent schools in this town are making up for the number of options that we have seen reduced over the years. We have seen them reduced in self-government, in a sense. We have seen the loss of the School Without Walls, we have seen it change, evolve and then disappear altogether.
Blue Gum comes out of that sort of desire that some people have for a school where they can be totally involved in it and they can have alternative education and all the things that you do find there. But Blue Gum community school is looking for a site. They would really like to be able to expand their place in the Hackett primary school, and they have been advocating with the department and going through all the right channels, and it is fairly clear that somewhere or other they must have got the minister offside. I know things do get a bit personal at times.
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