❓ Question regarding the rationale for hiring 347 teachers to reduce class sizes in years 1-3. The Minister defends the decision, highlighting the government's commitment to fulfilling its promise and criticizes the previous government's approach to funding education.
AnsweredQoN 946Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Will the minister please outline why 347 teachers are needed to reduce class sizes in years 1 to 3 to 24 children in each class? Mr CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr Trenorden: The minister probably wrote it! Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: Actually, I did not. I thank the member for Roleystone for his persistent interest in education. Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Yesterday I was privileged enough to be with the Premier when he announced that from the 2003 we would employ an extra 347 teachers to enable class-size reduction in the early years of education; that is, years 1 to 3. Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Dr Gallop: Do you think the imitation of the boat or the cat was best? Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: I preferred the boat but the cat was also good. When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
When this Government was in opposition we promised to reduce maximum class sizes in those years from 28 to 24. In this forthcoming budget we will fulfil that commitment. Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr Barnett: What you have done is honour what the previous Government said it would do three years ago and I congratulate you for that. It is now three years on and I congratulate you for following through on that commitment. Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: I always hesitate to criticise the Leader of the Opposition because, as everybody knows, I am his strongest supporter in the Chamber. If I were to turn against him he would be left with no support. Yesterday I said - the Leader of the Opposition may have heard me - that he did some good things when he was Minister for Education. However, he did not deliver on that promise. He could have delivered on this promise in relation to - Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr Day interjected. Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
Mr CARPENTER: We promised to reduce maximum class sizes from 28 to 24 and so did the then Government. When I became Minister for Education, I asked to see the funding arrangements that would match that commitment made by the previous Government. What it had done was to work on an average class-size model. Its funding arrangement for and instruction to the Department of Education at that time would have provided around 85 extra teachers. I said to the Department of Education that that would be in breach of the agreement - as I understand it - with the State School Teachers Union of WA. The commitment from both the former Government and this Government was that maximum class sizes be reduced from 28 to 24. I said to the department to not tell me about the previous figure of 85 teachers but to tell me how many teachers it would need. It said it would require something like 350 teachers. I then said that that is what we would provide. If we promised, and we did, to reduce maximum class sizes by that number and that is the required number of teachers, that number will be provided. It will cost us an additional $18 million every full year. That commitment is not like the half-cocked commitment that the previous Government gave, which was just like the one it gave on laptop computers, whereby it promised something but did not fund it. They examples are just like all the other issues that I raised in this place at the same time the then Minister for Education was running $100 million over budget in his portfolio. How he could have got away with that defeats me. Nobody on this side would get away with that. On the back of that, the Court Government was running operational deficits that drove us into the financial position that we are now in. This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
This Government has honoured its commitment. We are not like members opposite who could have been champions; the “gunna bes” who say they were gunna do it had they been re-elected. That lot opposite were not going to honour that commitment. The funding was not there and they had no intention of honouring their commitment. This Government has honoured its commitment. I listened carefully to the shadow minister’s comments that he would like to see how the Government would honour its commitment. He has plenty of time in Opposition so he should sit back and watch, because we will do it.
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