Page 1116 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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would be omitting part of Mrs Dunne’s motion—paragraph (1)(e). Really, that was trying to get a little more detail in there.
It is also necessary to be clear about the fact that construction work has not started out at Flynn primary and that there is now only approximately eight months to go to complete what could be significant renovation works and what we suspect will be significant renovation works. My last amendment again is around considerable disruption being caused to the families that use Alkira and Gumnut if the site is not ready by 1 January.
I agree with Mrs Dunne. It is important we ensure that this is going to be up and ready so that there is a smooth transition for these families. It is going to be a bit of a disruption. There have been families who have been taking their children to Gumnut in Evatt for many years. This will be a difficult period for them. We need to make sure that that transition is as smooth as possible.
My understanding of the Alkira building is that in fact it will be a great positive for the children who access that childcare to be able to access a state-of-the-art, high-quality facility, but even so there will still be some transition issues for those families. Therefore, it is essential that we see that government is on the ball, that government is going to deliver this work and that those places and that childcare centre is going to be up and running in time for early 2012.
It is essential, as I said, that we make sure this is a stress-free, smooth transition. We need to make sure that this work is done and we also, as we have talked about in this debate, need to make sure that we have a plan forward for how we are going to meet the demand for childcare places.
Some of it will be long-day care. Some of it will be for shorter times—casual types of arrangements, as in less than part-time arrangements. Some of it will need to be in family day care, some will be in centre-based care, but we need to make sure that we have a variety of options available for families so they can look at those options and make the right choice for their children. It is about supporting families in this town. We know the importance of doing that.
I hope that Mrs Dunne and Ms Burch have considered the amendments I have put forward and will support those amendments. Once again, I thank Mrs Dunne for bringing this motion on today.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (5.23): The motion by Mrs Dunne regarding the Flynn school site brings an opportunity for me to talk about the progress that we have been working through. I met with Alkira and the Gumnut childcare centres on 2 February, and I made this government’s commitment to them perfectly clear. The construction of the Flynn site will be complete by 31 December this year, and today’s motion by Mrs Dunne really could have been dealt with if she had just asked the question. But asking a straight, simple question is not something that Mrs Dunne is apt to do. Had Mrs Dunne asked during question time whether the
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