Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Through you, Chair, I perhaps will explore the idea of 'special classrooms'. That is a new concept. I thought Senator Hanson was proposing that children with autism did not deserve an education through the mainstream education system, but we now have a concept of special classrooms. Was that issue of special classrooms within mainstream schools, or indeed the issue of ensuring that children did not go through the mainstream education system, raised at any time with the minister, Senator Hanson? Senator Hanson?

The question that Senator Hanson has refused to address—indeed, today the minister refused to address—was whether the issue of children with autism attending mainstream schools was part of the negotiation over the education reforms. Senator Hanson, you have an opportunity to set the record straight here and make sure that you are straight with the Australian people. Was this part of your negotiations with the government?