Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for his question. I know that he is deeply interested not only in the future of Australian technical colleges but in all aspects of the government’s education revolution. Can I say, on the education revolution generally, that this morning I was able to introduce into the parliament some important legislation which fits in with the government’s education revolution agenda. Towards the end of this year, we will enter the new national education agreement, an agreement for government and non-government schools, an agreement to lift the quality of schooling in every school around the country. Today I was able to introduce into this parliament the funding component for non-government schools, some $24 billion. Importantly, I was able to announce that schools that are teaching Indigenous students will benefit from new resources, new investments, the maximum rate of government contribution and new indexation arrangements, because we want to make a real difference to closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.

The member asked me about Australian technical colleges. I thank the member for his question because it seems to me important to indicate to the House something that the new shadow minister for education unfortunately does not understand. The shadow Treasurer is not the only new shadow minister to get off to a bad start. The shadow minister for education was on Sky TV being interviewed about his new portfolio yesterday and clearly did not understand the economic and financial problems of Australian technical colleges. This House yesterday noted the member for Bradfield’s facility with statistics, something that is well known in this House. He is a man who is very good at remembering numbers. When he was the minister for education, he announced the Liberal Party’s proposal to create 24 Australian technical colleges. When he did that, he announced a number of numbers related to that. I suspect he can remember them in his head now, but just to remind him and certainly to inform the member for Sturt, who clearly is not aware of these numbers: the member for Bradfield said that these technical colleges would assist more than 21,000 students at a cost of $289 million over four years.

Well, there is a problem with that. The problem is not the ability of the member for Bradfield to remember those numbers; the problem is in the delivery of them, because here we are, four years from when that promise was made, and we have enrolment of 4,300 students, not 21,000, and the budget has blown out to $440 million. That is a training cost of $100,000 a student. In a further assault on the already tattered economic credibility of the Liberal Party—in tatters because of its budget strategy, in tatters because of the gaffes of the shadow Treasurer—now the shadow Treasurer is joined by the shadow minister for education, who went on to suggest this was a good training model and we should be aiming to get to 21,000 students, at a cost of $100,000 a student. This is economic vandalism writ large—the shadow minister for education joining his colleagues in a morass of economic incompetence.

The government is moving to better training arrangements, which will certainly be more cost-effective and will certainly cover more students. I am pleased to be able to say that arrangements have been made for the future of three technical colleges. These will be better arrangements and certainly more cost-effective for the long term. The newly elected member for Lyne played an important role in this development and led a delegation to see me. He would know that the ATC in Port Macquarie is moving to be the Newman Senior Technical College. It will be moved back to the Catholic school system. In Western Sydney, the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation will run the college there. In the electorate of the member for Wakefield, who asked me this question, the ATC will become the Regional Catholic Technical College. These are long-term solutions for the future which will enable training in those communities under better and sustainable arrangements.

The arrangements we make for the future of ATCs are in addition to our $2.5 billion investment in Trades Training Centres in Schools. Once again, in the interview yesterday, the new shadow minister for education indicated he does not quite get it when it comes to figures either; the shadow treasurer is not alone. When it comes to figures, he said in respect of a $2.5 billion investment, ‘big figures mean nothing’. He might like to tell that to the schools in his electorate who are now invited to apply for a $300 million funding round. He might like to say to those school communities—and those school communities in Liberal seats around the nation—that he says, as the shadow minister for education, that $300 million available now for school applications and school proposals does not mean anything.

See this speech in context