Page 4156 - Week 11 - Thursday, 17 Sept 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
of people coming from out of area that do not have, necessarily, a connection to the community that is as strong.
But what has happened in those two villages has had an effect on the entire community, not just on the parents and not just on the children. And Ms Burch’s description of those schools as boutique schools, I thought, was particularly outrageous.
I went further in my dissenting comments, based on the evidence that was presented with regard to the Flynn and Cook schools. I invite you to read my dissenting comments. I notice that Ms Burch says that we only considered that two schools should be reopened. She is fully aware that we support four being reopened. That was discussed in the committee and is in my additional comments. I will read it for her so that she can have no doubt. My additional key finding was:
That the evidence presented to the Committee during the Inquiry provided sufficient demographic, educational, social, and economic arguments to support the case that the Cook, Flynn, Tharwa and Hall Primary Schools should not have been closed by the ACT Government, and that these schools should be reopened.
My additional recommendation was:
I recommend that based on the demographic, educational, social and economic evidence presented during the Inquiry, that the Government immediately commences the process to reopen the Cook, Flynn Primary Schools.
The other schools are already in the recommendations. So if there is any doubt left on whether it is two or whether it is four, I hope I have cleared that up.
There are also particular issues for the Flynn school and the heritage of the site. I recommend that anybody in the Assembly go out and see what has happened to that heritage site. And it is disgraceful. It is boarded up; it has been sprayed with graffiti; the lights are smashed; it is not being cared for. So what was once a jewel in the crown of that community, which was the heart of the community, is now an eyesore and a blight on the community, based on the way it has been treated.
I urgently call on the government—it is certainly one of the recommendations in the committee report—to get on with the heritage assessment for the Flynn primary school and make sure that that site is kept as a community asset. Although I support it being reopened as a primary school, the Flynn community have actually got a number of other options on how they want it to be used. As a priority, let me say that they want it reopened as a school but they have also come up with a number of alternative proposals to make sure that it is kept as a community asset. Thus far they have been ignored by the government. What I would be calling on the government to do is sit down with the Flynn community, go through their proposals, which are very reasonable and which are very articulate, and make sure that, if that site is not going to be a school, then at least it is there as a viable and worthwhile community asset.
The case for Cook was also compelling. Their school should not have been closed and there is a compelling case that it should be reopened. It will be problematic because in
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .