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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-15 Daily Xml
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SCHOOL SPORTS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): My question is again to the Minister for Education. Does the minister still stand by her statement, affirmed in her affidavit dated 27 February 2009 in the case of Flavel and The State of South Australia, that:

the decision has significant ramifications for the curriculum offered to the students in South Australia and the mode of their delivery…It will be necessary to assess all sporting and outdoor activities conducted by the department that contain a competitive element. The outcome of such considerations, should the decision stand—

which, of course, it did—

may see the cessation of many of the activities currently undertaken by our schools.

She went on to name the activities to include: swimming/aquatics, soccer, football, netball, cricket, tennis, basketball, athletics, lacrosse, hockey, volleyball, aerobics, dance and rowing.

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH (Adelaide—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:19): I think the Leader of the Opposition is suggesting that I lied in an affidavit—which I take exception to—asking me whether I stand by what was written, and I do take exception to that, because I wrote every word of that statement and it was entirely honest. As a lawyer—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: —the Leader of the Opposition should be capable of reading every word and understanding the intent. Those words were crafted very carefully. The word she skipped over was 'may'.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: The issue here is that we understand that sport is an integral part of our way of life. It was necessary for us to take this view to the judge in making this judgment because we were concerned that some people—perhaps the Leader of the Opposition—might see this judgment and therefore close down sport. I know that the Leader of the Opposition—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: —has sort of a small 'l' liberal approach—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: —and is likely to be politically correct in many of her judgments. However, we believe that we should support sporting activity, adhere to regimes where sport is possible within our schools and find ways of carrying on competitive activities in schools. If she thinks otherwise, I would be interested to hear about it.

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