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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1282 asked in the Legislative Council on 30 October 2019 by Hon Donna Faragher

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

GIFTED AND TALENTED PROGRAMS — CHINESE STUDENTS

1282. Hon DONNA FARAGHER to the Minister for Education and Training:

I refer to the answer given to question without notice 1267 asked yesterday by Hon Simon O'Brien regarding the new selective program to be offered to gifted Chinese students and the minister's statement —

If a school does not have capacity to take the students, the school will not take the students.

(1) How were the schools selected for participation in the program?

(2) For each of the participating schools, can the minister advise whether their 2020 gifted and talented programs are at capacity?

(3) If no to (2), which schools have the capacity to take additional students?

Hon SUE ELLERY replied:

Can I just check whether that was a question without notice?

Hon Donna Faragher: Yes.

Hon SUE ELLERY: I do not see how the member thinks I can provide an answer to part (2) without being given some notice.

(1) Those schools were chosen because they are the highest performing public academic schools.

Can the member remind me of part (3)?

Hon Donna Faragher: If you can't answer part (2), you can't answer part (3). Are they full or not?

Hon SUE ELLERY: The member is asking me whether a specific program is full for 2020. I am happy to give the member the answer to that —

Hon Peter Collier: Will you base the policy on it?

Hon SUE ELLERY: The policy is that if there is capacity at the school, the students will be taken.

I am happy to take that on notice and I will give the member an answer when we sit tomorrow, but the member cannot expect me to know, across the seven schools, where each one sits on its program for next year.

Hon Peter Collier: I certainly would've known that.

Hon SUE ELLERY: Madam President, can I just make this point in response to the interjection by the Leader of the Opposition?

The PRESIDENT: Proceed.

Hon SUE ELLERY: The Leader of the Opposition, when he was the Leader of the House and Minister for Education, would regularly give me answers that he could not provide me with the answer that day, but he would provide the answer as soon as possible.

Hon Peter Collier: Not without notice!

Hon SUE ELLERY: Most often—regularly without notice—if I asked that level of detail.

Hon Peter Collier interjected.

The PRESIDENT: This is not a debate.

Hon SUE ELLERY: My point is I am happy to answer any question the member asks about that policy. If the member needed specifics, she just needed to give me some notice, even behind the Chair, and I could have gotten the numbers for her.