Page 907 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 2 April 2008
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points to are about the distant future, about the possibility of some schools maybe having to close some time down the track in the context of a clear promise that there would be no school closures in the next term of government. We have finally seen an acknowledgement from Ms Gallagher—something that has been denied all this time—that the community was misled.
The community was misled and Ms Gallagher has finally acknowledged that. I think that is refreshing, although the defence that it was a mistake I think is very hard to sustain given the subsequent comments from Ms Gallagher, particularly the press release just three days out from the ACT election in which she claimed that it was the Liberal Party who had a plan to close schools. She very strongly implied that the Labor Party was not going to close any schools and backed up that statement that was made on her behalf.
It is difficult to sustain the claim that this was a mistake. This appears to have been a deliberate leaving of that promise out there because it was seen as being in the Labor Party’s best interests in the lead-up to the election. They milked it for all it was worth. They milked it right up to election day. That is on the record and that is the truth of it. But what was revealed today by Ms Gallagher, which we did not know, is how quickly this promise was tossed out after the election.
My memory of the election is that the result was declared on 29 October 2004. We heard from Ms Gallagher that on 30 November, one month and one day later, she decided that that promise was not worth anything. She had decided that the first of the school closures could occur; the promise not to close schools in the next term of government was not a promise that was going to be kept by the government. One month into a four-year term this government decided that its promises could be broken. It decided one month after the declaration of the poll that its promise not to close any schools for the entire next term could be broken.
This government did break its promise. It betrayed the community, not just once, because at that point there was only going to be a closure in relation to west Belconnen. We heard Ms Gallagher’s comment that at the time there were no plans for any further closures. Then, of course, we saw the significant further closures. This gives the lie to the government’s promises. It undermines any future promises it makes in the lead-up to the next election, especially when it comes to public education.
The minister has agreed that they will not close any further schools before 2013, except the ones already outlined. It is a very similar promise and it should be treated with the contempt it deserves. When you have been caught out breaking your promise, deciding to break your promise one month after the election, a four-year promise that is broken one month after, this latest promise that there will not be any further school closures before 2013 should be treated exactly the same way. It should be treated with contempt. This government cannot be trusted to keep its promises. In particular, it cannot be trusted to keep its promises on public education or school closures.
At 6.00 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the debate was interrupted. The motion for the adjournment of the Assembly having been put and negatived, the debate was resumed.
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