Mr BURKE - 2005-05-03
You have now disputed your budget figures which show that employment has dropped by 1.37%, 1300 jobs. You have also disputed the loss of 1288 primary school students. That means we obviously need more schools, because we are growing our population, according to you. I am pleased to see that today’s budget delivered a note of $10m for a new high school in Palmerston. You have included this capital item in each of your last three budgets, with a promise to build a new high school and, in past budget papers, you have included committal dates for major capital projects, including the Palmerston High School which, as I recall, was supposed to be opened this year and not a sod has been turned to date.
Today’s budget papers have dropped any commitment date for the Palmerston High School. Does that mean, once again, you are not committed to building it, or have you found the students who were in primary school and in need of a new high school have now finished their secondary education and moved on and the rest can keep waiting?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, one of the things we are not going to do is mandate that no school will be bigger than 300 kids.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: No school will be bigger than 300 kids. This clown over here is so …
Dr Lim: That is a lie! That is a lie!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex!
Mr STIRLING: This clown over here, Madam Speaker, says no school should be bigger than 300. Go to Casuarina Senior College and tell the 900 who are no longer welcome where they are going to go. Tell them where you are going to build the three new high schools for the other 900 kids because you are not allowed to have a school with more than 300. Tell them where you are going to get the $25m to build each of the three high schools, and then tell Darwin High School, which also has well in excess of 1000 kids: ‘Sorry, 759 of you kids are no longer welcome, out the door. We are going to build another two new high schools at another $25m each’, and so far we are up to about $125m, I think, and counting, and then when you get that lot …
Mr Dunham: Why would he tell them lies like that, Syd?
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, withdraw that!
Mr DUNHAM: No, I was suggesting that my colleague would not tell lies like that, Madam Speaker. I was not making any assumptions that he was telling lies; I was saying my colleague would not go to those schools and perpetrate lies of that type.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: I shall check the Hansard and make sure you are telling me the truth.
Mr DUNHAM: Yes, I said he would not tell lies like that. I am sure he would not, and if I caused you offence, I apologise.
Madam SPEAKER: If you have misquoted what you just said, I will not be at all impressed.
Mr DUNHAM: Pardon?
Madam SPEAKER: It was my hearing of you that you were calling the Treasurer for lies, so just make sure you have not. All right, Treasurer, continue.
Mr STIRLING: It becomes more complicated than that, Madam Speaker. When you start telling kids where they can and cannot go to school and you cannot have more than 300 …
Dr Lim: This is the lie.
Mr STIRLING: You have to go to Stuart Park …
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, cease a minute. Member for Greatorex, withdraw that, please.
Dr LIM: Madam Speaker, I said this is the lie. I did not call him a liar. I said: ‘This is the lie’.
Madam SPEAKER: I want you to withdraw it. I am not going to accept …
Dr LIM: Withdraw that this is a lie?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex!
Dr LIM: I will withdraw it if you instruct me to.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. That is all you have to do. Stop throwing these remarks across the floor about people lying.
Mr STIRLING: Go out to Stuart Park: 528 kids there. How do I pick the 228 who are no longer welcome and where are we going to send them? We could send them up the road to Ludmilla. That does not have 300 kids; we can fill that up. When that fills up, we will have to build another school. It just goes on and on. That is nonsense.
In relation to Palmerston secondary, a great deal of discussion and consultation has gone on with the school councils and school community in and around Palmerston and the areas which would feed a new high school. Whilst we had commitment dates and they have slipped, they were probably premature in the sense that we then commissioned the secondary review, which has some way to go in terms of community consultation and discussion as to how that might all work through in the end, and some of those factors may impinge on the final design of Palmerston secondary school.
I will say this: it will be the best designed and best fit school this country has ever seen. I can say that unequivocally because we are going to spend a lot of time absolutely getting this right, and next time we have a committal date against it, it will be the date.
Today’s budget papers have dropped any commitment date for the Palmerston High School. Does that mean, once again, you are not committed to building it, or have you found the students who were in primary school and in need of a new high school have now finished their secondary education and moved on and the rest can keep waiting?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, one of the things we are not going to do is mandate that no school will be bigger than 300 kids.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: No school will be bigger than 300 kids. This clown over here is so …
Dr Lim: That is a lie! That is a lie!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex!
Mr STIRLING: This clown over here, Madam Speaker, says no school should be bigger than 300. Go to Casuarina Senior College and tell the 900 who are no longer welcome where they are going to go. Tell them where you are going to build the three new high schools for the other 900 kids because you are not allowed to have a school with more than 300. Tell them where you are going to get the $25m to build each of the three high schools, and then tell Darwin High School, which also has well in excess of 1000 kids: ‘Sorry, 759 of you kids are no longer welcome, out the door. We are going to build another two new high schools at another $25m each’, and so far we are up to about $125m, I think, and counting, and then when you get that lot …
Mr Dunham: Why would he tell them lies like that, Syd?
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, withdraw that!
Mr DUNHAM: No, I was suggesting that my colleague would not tell lies like that, Madam Speaker. I was not making any assumptions that he was telling lies; I was saying my colleague would not go to those schools and perpetrate lies of that type.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: I shall check the Hansard and make sure you are telling me the truth.
Mr DUNHAM: Yes, I said he would not tell lies like that. I am sure he would not, and if I caused you offence, I apologise.
Madam SPEAKER: If you have misquoted what you just said, I will not be at all impressed.
Mr DUNHAM: Pardon?
Madam SPEAKER: It was my hearing of you that you were calling the Treasurer for lies, so just make sure you have not. All right, Treasurer, continue.
Mr STIRLING: It becomes more complicated than that, Madam Speaker. When you start telling kids where they can and cannot go to school and you cannot have more than 300 …
Dr Lim: This is the lie.
Mr STIRLING: You have to go to Stuart Park …
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, cease a minute. Member for Greatorex, withdraw that, please.
Dr LIM: Madam Speaker, I said this is the lie. I did not call him a liar. I said: ‘This is the lie’.
Madam SPEAKER: I want you to withdraw it. I am not going to accept …
Dr LIM: Withdraw that this is a lie?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex!
Dr LIM: I will withdraw it if you instruct me to.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. That is all you have to do. Stop throwing these remarks across the floor about people lying.
Mr STIRLING: Go out to Stuart Park: 528 kids there. How do I pick the 228 who are no longer welcome and where are we going to send them? We could send them up the road to Ludmilla. That does not have 300 kids; we can fill that up. When that fills up, we will have to build another school. It just goes on and on. That is nonsense.
In relation to Palmerston secondary, a great deal of discussion and consultation has gone on with the school councils and school community in and around Palmerston and the areas which would feed a new high school. Whilst we had commitment dates and they have slipped, they were probably premature in the sense that we then commissioned the secondary review, which has some way to go in terms of community consultation and discussion as to how that might all work through in the end, and some of those factors may impinge on the final design of Palmerston secondary school.
I will say this: it will be the best designed and best fit school this country has ever seen. I can say that unequivocally because we are going to spend a lot of time absolutely getting this right, and next time we have a committal date against it, it will be the date.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016