Page 1803 - Week 05 - Thursday, 2 April 2009

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Mr Coe: Good on you. Good on you, Katy. Poor Katy.

Ms Gallagher: I do not feel poor, Alistair; I feel sorry for you, mate.

MR SPEAKER: Treasurer! Mr Barr has the floor.

MR BARR: I need to add to an answer I gave yesterday to Ms Bresnan. She asked in part:

… is the minister aware that government primary school students are required to pay $15.50 each to attend the Birrigai outdoor school …

I can advise that the total funding which flows to Birrigai from this entry charge is over $100,000. The ACT government provides more than five times this amount—over half a million dollars in direct funding to Birrigai. Birrigai also generates other funding in the order of $800,000 for external use of the facility.

Ms Bresnan’s media statement yesterday used weasel words to imply that Birrigai is required to cover its operational costs fully by charging students. This is false. I do look forward to any suggestions from Ms Bresnan as to what services she would cut back or what taxes she would increase to fund her policy to cut this source funding to Birrigai.

I was asked by Ms Burch in question time yesterday:

Would the minister advise the Assembly about community reaction of which he is aware to the ACT government’s reform process, which has again been reflected in this year’s schools census?

I am advised that a member of the community, Mr Doszpot, has reacted to the school census by stating that the increase in enrolments is an increase of 0.001 per cent.

Mr Seselja: Is this an addition to his answer?

MR BARR: I can advise that this is incorrect. My staff have calculated that an increase of 0.00—

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Barr, resume your seat for a moment, please.

Mr Corbell: Mr Speaker, just to—

MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Corbell! Mr Barr, the reason I stopped you is that my general understanding is that when we rise shortly after question time it is to add additional information or come back on questions without notice which were asked. I do not believe that you had an undertaking to Ms Burch to take it on notice. I think that you are straying outside correcting yourself and starting to move into having an attack on Mr Doszpot. That is why I have pulled you up. If you have information to correct yourself, that is fine, but I do not want to see you starting to talk about Mr Doszpot’s press releases in this forum; you can do it in other fora.


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