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

What the guidelines provide—and the guidelines are very clear—is for newly constructed buildings under Primary Schools for the 21st Century as part of Building the Education Revolution. Of course, appropriate climate control, whether it be air conditioning or heating, can be installed. National School Pride program money can go to small-scale repairs and it is going to shade cloth and some of the other important things in schools. It is not going to air conditioning, that is true. As the member would be aware, a substantial consideration with the insertion of air conditioning in schools is the ongoing costs of running the air conditioning. He would know, from the climate he comes from, that the capital cost of putting in the air-conditioning is one thing; the year-on-year power cost is another. We have obviously said to state governments, as we have gone about this task, that our economic stimulus is extra to the things that they ordinarily do. One of the things that they ordinarily do is work out how to renovate classrooms for climate control, including an understanding of what the ongoing recurrent costs of that would be. We have said to state governments that, with major constructs under Primary Schools for the 21st Century, appropriate climate control will be part of the fit-out, as will the things required to make buildings functional, including in some cases interactive whiteboards and the like. Those things are all part of the program.

I can understand that the member is disgruntled about the circumstances in his electorate for some of the children who attend school in his electorate. On the question of air conditioning for current school facilities, he should feel very free to direct that to the state minister for education in his state of Western Australia.

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