Page 5132 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 17 November 2009
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There is also the production of Miss Saigon by the Phoenix Players and Supa Productions, which my colleague Alistair Coe has also spoken about. I would like to commend it to all of our Assembly colleagues and to the Canberra community. I believe it is one of the most professional productions I have seen in Canberra, and I have been a regular theatre goer. This is a very unique production. I commend the cast—Grant Pegg, Jacinta Le, Dean Salonga, Sean Ladlow, Claire Watson, Simon Stone, Mariam Grey, Chloe Van, Maximilian Hoy and Ryan Tolich. Alistair Coe has already gone through the names, so I will not repeat all of those names again, but I will repeat my very, very, strong congratulations on the work that has gone into this production—for the acting, for the set design side and for the direction and the scene that Alistair Coe has already described with the helicopter that was used in the production. It was absolutely incredible.
With those words, I would like to close. I recommend to all of our colleagues to have a look at this production. It is on from 12 November to 28 November, so you do still have some time to see this production at the ANU Arts Centre.
Schools—closures
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (4.49): It is unfortunate that I have to come down this afternoon to respond to Mrs Dunne’s outburst in the last few minutes or so around the ACT Greens betraying the community of Flynn. I am outraged at the sort of misrepresentation that Mrs Dunne has continued to perpetuate, along with some of her colleagues. It is important to set the record straight, yet again.
The ACT Greens went into the election campaign and were aware of angst that was still out there amongst school communities about school closures. Therefore, during the campaign, we announced that we would be pushing for an inquiry into school closures to look at the economic impact, the environmental impact, the attitudes of parents of children who had moved from closed schools and so forth.
When we got into the Assembly, we pushed that forward. The standing committee on education held an inquiry into these matters, and that was contained in the terms of reference. That committee reported a couple of months ago. Part of its recommendations were about the government looking at reopening the schools of Hall and Tharwa and working with the John Flynn Community Group to look at the future uses, and important uses, of the former Flynn primary school. It needs to be very clear that that was what we took out to the election campaign and that is what we followed through with once we were in the Assembly.
About a month after I was elected to this place, I ensured that I met up with the John Flynn Community Group, and I have continued to have regular contact with them in the intervening months. The John Flynn Community Group have put a proposal on the table that includes the former Flynn primary school being used for childcare and for community organisations. That is a very positive way to be moving forward on that former school site.
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