RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

2316 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012
and accountability issues. I believe this will be very challenging. With changing technology there will be
many state-of-the-art new initiatives that this department will be able to deliver in the future. It will be a
customer focused process. I look forward to what no doubt will be an exciting era.
I note the very long statement of reservations put into this report by the opposition, which is their
right, but I was disappointed at the sometimes very personal attacks and approaches from the
opposition both in the statement of reservations and in questioning. I believe the people of Queensland
are not impressed by muckraking. They are much more impressed by the delivery of fiscally sound
government which the opposition should be part of.
I would like to particularly commend the Treasurer, the Hon. Tim Nicholls, for a very sound budget
delivered under extremely difficult challenges after the legacy left by the Labor Party. This has been a
very difficult six months for the Premier and ministers and I sincerely congratulate them all for their solid
work.
Ms PALASZCZUK (Inala—ALP) (Leader of the Opposition) (9.11 pm): At the outset I thank the
chair and members of the committee for participating in this Education and Innovation Committee’s
estimates hearing. I will be restricting my comments to the education component of the committee’s
deliberations. The minister, when asked in the abstract about the laudable goal contained in the
Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 to provide universal access to high-quality state education,
gave all the right answers. He waxed lyrical about the provision of high-quality education across regional
Queensland. However, given the specifics of the children enrolled in the travelling show school, the
matter was entirely different. He was not so concerned about those children’s right to the high-quality
education they have been receiving. The minister actually gave poor attendance records and their poor
NAPLAN results as a reason for closing the school. Yet in the reading category for the year 3 cohort the
Queensland School for Travelling Show Children received a higher score than nine other Queensland
schools. I hope the minister is not threatening to close those schools also because of poor NAPLAN
results.
No-one would doubt that the circumstances of the children attending the travelling show school
are unusual to say the least. I would have thought that a better option would be to provide the additional
support that was necessary to bring those results up to par with the rest of the state. The minister
admitted that he had held meetings with representatives of the school, but what he failed to deny when
asked was the allegation made by those present at the meeting that his chief of staff said in a meeting
with those representatives, ‘Why should we keep you open when you have been slagging us off in the
media?’
Another disturbing feature of the minister’s answering of questions was his apparent lack of
knowledge of the legislative requirements for closure of a school in Queensland. He seemed totally
unaware that there is a legislative requirement for consultation to occur with the school community. He
seemed totally oblivious to the fact that if the minister is proposing to close a school, the minister must
publish a notice about the proposal in the Queensland Government Gazette. He also seemed totally
unfamiliar with the requirement for the gazettal notice to be published at least six months prior to any
school closure, as did his director-general. But given some time and the advice of his department the
minister was able to come back to the committee later to advise that even though the school closure
would not be gazetted six months before the school closed at the end of the school year this year, the
school will cease operations at the end of this year, but the official closure will take effect from a date at
least six months after publication of the notice in the gazette. That is certainly some sleight of hand on
the part of the minister. I wonder who would be able to distinguish between a school closure and a
cessation of operation of a school. I think they would look pretty much the same to me, but one would
comply with the legislation and the other would not.
On a more positive note, I was excited by the advice from the director-general that the kindy
participation rate had reached 68 per cent last year with a goal of 65 per cent under the national
partnership agreement. That is an amazing achievement when we consider that in 2009 the kindy
participation rate in Queensland was only 29 per cent. I am pleased that both the minister and the
director-general acknowledge this achievement. The director-general described kindy as a wonderful
story for Queensland and I would have to agree. This would certainly be one of the achievements of the
previous Labor government of which we are most proud.
I want the minister to know that we put the groundwork in in building these new kindies, in
approving long day-care centres to deliver a kindy program and to employ qualified kindy teachers. We
will be looking to him to deliver the final targets under the national partnership agreement in the next
couple of years.
Mr BENNETT (Burnett—LNP) (9.15 pm): It is my pleasure, after my first estimates, to support the
adoption of the report of the Education and Innovation Committee. It was a pleasure to participate as
part of the committee. At the outset I express my gratitude for the cooperation of all of the members of
the committee, including the chair Rosemary Menkens. I also express my thanks to the ministers who
appeared before the committee, their respective directors-general and other officers, all of whom