The ACT Government is crying ‘we’re too poor’ to re-open Flynn Primary School at the very same time that it is dishing out $230 million of Federal money for ACT schools and promising more ACT money through upcoming appropriations.
While ACT schools look to get several million each from the cash bonanza, a recent letter from the ACT Government Solicitor to Flynn Primary School Parents and Citizens Association suggests the ACT Government will say it is too poor to re-open Flynn even if the Supreme Court orders it to reconsider the closure, according to Flynn P&C President, Roger Nicoll.
“It is some sort of bizarre hypocrisy for ACT to suggest Flynn would be too expensive to open when it is splurging $230 million of Federal money on schools and promising millions more from ACT coffers, ” Mr Nicoll said.
The building is sound and the Flynn community is ready. Most of the cost of opening the school would result from undoing government actions taken after legal proceedings commenced in early 2007. Regardless, the Minister now says in his letter: ‘In any event, the dedication of resources to other schools means that the school could not be re-opened without substantial expenditure.’
The Minister still claims the decision to close Flynn Primary School was lawful, despite widespread and almost universal condemnation of the school closures process.
“On the eve of the Assembly Inquiry into the school closures, the government is pressuring Flynn to drop the case against the school closure in return for its $50,000 security lodged in 2007. The bullying doesn’t end there as the Government warns it will pursue the Flynn P&C for full costs if it doesn’t agree to drop the case.”
Similar threats have been made to Flynn P&C since the appeal was filed in early 2007.
“That’s not model litigant behaviour, and it’s clear that the government simply wants to stop legal scrutiny any way it can.”
“The Flynn community maintains that significant savings will be made from the opening of the primary school, particularly when social and environmental factors are fully considered,” Mr Nicoll said. “In recession, the value of such community schools will only grow.”
The Flynn community has had infrastructure proposals for the improvement of Flynn School on the table since 2006 but government ministers have shown little interest in discussing this, according to Mr Nicoll.
“The latest cash windfall for ACT schools presents the perfect opportunity for the ACT Government to right past wrongs and restore valuable community schools such as Flynn.”
