SCHOOL AMALGAMATIONS

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Education. Given that under section 14A of the Education Act the minister is required to consult with schools on amalgamations, why are schools being told over the phone (not in writing) that they will be amalgamated without any consultation taking place?

If I may explain: on 4 December 1997, when introducing the Education (Government School Closures) Amendment Bill, Labor's then education spokesperson (Trish White) told parliament:

This bill is necessary. It will establish a process of review for schools that are to be closed against the wishes of the community.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for his question. The member for Unley seeks to portray this particular savings initiative as something about school closures; it is not about school closures at all. Not one school will close under this initiative and not—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, I get to answer your questions. You don't get to have another go when they don't work out.

Mr PISONI: Point of order: the question was about amalgamations, not closures, Speaker.

The SPEAKER: The minister can answer it as he chooses, and I am sure that he will get your point eventually.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Can I just say that the member for Unley has had some short-term memory loss. He mentioned closures in his explanation. So does he suggest that I should disregard this explanation, which clearly must then be used to somehow occlude the question rather than explain it. It is very difficult to follow.

Mr WILLIAMS: On a point of order: by way of explanation, the member for Unley talked about a bill which put section 14A in the act, and it was called the School Closures Bill.

The SPEAKER: There was no point of order in that; that was just debate. Minister.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is an important question to clarify, because the member for Unley has been content—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport, be quiet!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —to leave the impression that schools will be closed through this initiative. He is content to leave the impression that either amalgamation or closure will occur as a consequence of this initiative, and what he knows is that these schools are sitting next to one another on the same school site. So, not one school will close through this proposition, not one piece of government land will be sold as a consequence of this decision.

Of course we know that over a period of time junior primary schools have been, across the state, choosing to amalgamate with their primary school sister schools sitting right next door, and many of them have done so. There are very few junior primary schools left that are co-located with their primary schools. Many of the school councils have amalgamated their operations so that they operate as one school council. What we are now saying is that, with $27 million of capital funding, we will assist them to amalgamate.

We are seeking to reach an agreement with those schools in the first instance, but we are also saying that we want to achieve this savings initiative and, ultimately, if we have to go down the path of requiring the schools to be amalgamated—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —we will use the processes that are available under the legislation. We made that clear. We made that clear on the day of the budget to a meeting of all the relevant parties that we will take that step.

I think that those opposite need to just pause for a moment and understand the context in which all of these savings are being made—an overall $203 million increase in the education budget. That is something that we are proud of, that in this difficult financial environment we have managed to find an extra $203 million of investment. Sure, we are attempting to make sensible economies, and we have received support from a range of schools for this initiative, because it does not make sense that some schools have two separate schools on the one site and other schools are working under the same structure.