Every time they demand an 'exclusive' at the Courier Mail/Television in return for the leak local elected members have every right to ask why they were not provided with briefings, information before the media outlet.
Queensland Government scheme to close 'unviable' schools could see sell-off completed in less than a year
- Alison Sandy, Tanya Chilcott The Courier-Mail April 29, 2013
FIFTY-FIVE schools across
Queensland have been earmarked for closure as part of the State
Government's plan to consolidate assets and sell off the land.
Source: The Courier-Mail
FIFTY-FIVE schools across Queensland have been earmarked for closure
as part of the State Government's plan to consolidate assets and sell
off the land.
An "urgent" ministerial briefing note obtained by The Courier-Mail says closing the schools could save almost $17 million in running costs and take less than a year to achieve.Dated August 8, 2012, the briefing proposed cuts of 14 schools in the Far North Queensland region; 10 in North Queensland; eight in North Coast and Darling Downs and South West; seven in Metropolitan; six in Central Queensland; and two in South East.
Government sell-offs are almost certain after the final report of the Peter Costello-led Commission of Audit into Queensland's finances is tabled in Parliament tomorrow by Treasurer Tim Nicholls.
The commission has already told the Government it needs to quickly cut state debt by more than $25 billion to help Queensland regain its AAA rating.
How the State Government draws up its school hit list.
Mr Nicholls has repeatedly said the state would not sell government-owned assets without a mandate from voters but has defended the sale of government buildings and land as asset planning.
"Asset planning under the previous Labor government was done on an ad hoc, piecemeal basis and there was an overemphasis on new projects," he said when he released the final report's executive summary in early March.
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the Government wasn't selling off assets because the money saved would be spent on education.
Mr Langbroek said the LNP had inherited "a backlog of unviable schools" because the previous government wasn't prepared to make the hard decisions, but the list as presented by the department needed to be refined.
Proposed school closures by region.
He said not all 55 would shut but acknowledged a decision on final numbers was yet to be made.
Mr Langbroek said schools would only close after consultation but it would be a relatively short process.
Queensland Secondary Principals' Association president Norm Fuller said some schools would be "marginal in as far as being viable" and sometimes it would be better for students in smaller high schools to be in larger ones that had more subjects and opportunities.
Queensland Teachers' Union president Kevin Bates said he was concerned about any new policy restricting the requirement of the State Government to consult with communities.
-- reporting by Alison Sandy, Tanya Chilcott, Robert MacDonald
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