Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When the member for Mayo went to those school meetings where they said, ‘We’re looking forward to our schools being improved,’ I am sure he would have said, ‘This is a fantastic way to spend our money.’ It is appropriate to undertake the biggest school modernisation program in Australia’s history. It is unbelievable. I was a school teacher for 11 years so I know how tough it can be for schools, both state and private. Going around my electorate and talking to the teachers, principals, P&C presidents and parents I have found that they love it. They absolutely love it. They, like every MP in this House, give it a big collective thumbs up. They love that we are investing in schools. Every community obviously has a school.

But we are not just doing that. In building for the future we are also investing in roads, rail, ports, hospitals, broadband and major solar energy projects. Whether you are in the bush or in the city people are starting to see how we will reap the benefits in the future. ‘Productivity’ is a word that Peter Costello and John Howard did not talk about, or the fact that when they handed over government productivity was at zero. What was it again? Zero. Obviously we needed a budget that was about addressing some of the economic circumstances, because that is what a budget does. Obviously productivity—

See this speech in context