Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite will do everything they can to defend the indefensible. Before the last election, if you go back to the computers in schools policy, nowhere did the Prime Minister say, ‘I will impose a tax of $150 to $300 on the parents of high-school students.’ This has been announced by Lilydale High School. There will be other schools that will do the same thing. They are forced to do this because of the complete and utter incompetence of those opposite.

As we approach the anniversary of the last election, two weeks away, parents will reflect on the great gap between what was promised and what is actually being delivered. What is being delivered today in this legislation—we say it is too narrow, we say it should be broader—is only possible because the previous government left a budget in surplus, left a budget able to fund precisely these sorts of programs, like the Investing in Our Schools Program, across the education area. As those opposite speak on this bill, they should consider the computers in schools policy. It is not good enough to talk about just the rebate and the new computers in schools policy in tandem without acknowledging the fact that parents right across Australia are now starting to be hit with fees and levies in order to actually make the computers work.

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