Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have a saying in Victoria that most Victorians will be familiar with. We say in Victoria, ‘You’ve got more front than Myers,’ and I am sure there are in fact similar expressions in other states in relation to their department stores. It is used to refer to someone who is a bit shameless and sometimes insincere and frequently to someone who has a bit of cheek raising the issue given their own position. That is exactly what we have with this MPI today: an opposition and a shadow minister with more front than Myers. Here we have an opposition very ready to criticise and, in fact, vote against the most significant investment and reform in our schools that we have seen, all without having a policy of their own. Where is the opposition’s early learning policy? Where is the opposition’s policy on schools and overcoming disadvantage in our education system? Where is the opposition’s substantive response to the Bradley review? There is the problem for the opposition: all they do is carp about the government’s policy, but they have absolutely no policies of their own. They are a policy-free zone when it comes to education. Here they are, trying to pretend that the past 11 years of their time in government has disappeared into some black hole and ceased to exist and that they—only they—could do things better, if only they had been elected in 2007. I can assure the Australian people and those listening to this debate that nothing could be further from the truth.

During the election, I and many of my colleagues made a commitment that we would invest substantially in education, and that is exactly what we are doing. The Rudd government is delivering an education revolution to the entire education system, from preschools and schools through to TAFE and universities. It is now 20 months since we were elected, and I stand in this House proud to say that our nation’s education revolution is well and truly underway.

I want to put on the record just what we have achieved so far. We have committed an unprecedented $14.7 billion to the largest school building and modernisation program in this nation’s history. Through the National School Pride program, we have already seen $1.3 billion go to over 9,400 schools across Australia. In my own electorate, 85 schools received some $9.56 million, going towards much-needed refurbishment and renewal of existing infrastructure or to build minor infrastructure. It is also proving great for supporting local jobs. Just over two weeks ago, I visited a school in my own electorate, Pentland Primary School, which received some $75,000 under this program. The principal at the school told me that right from the start he wanted the project to be a community project, involving local tradespeople and business. Ten local tradespeople have been involved in the project, and I met with some of them. They overwhelmingly told me that, if not for the government investment, they would absolutely be struggling for work.

As part of the Rudd government’s $14.7 billion commitment to Building the Education Revolution, we have also seen our Primary Schools for the 21st Century program, the subject of this MPI. In my own electorate, 77 schools so far have been announced as receiving some $96.4 million, an unprecedented investment in building up our schools—the greatest that I have ever seen. One of the most exciting aspects of Building the Education Revolution, which will leave a lasting legacy, is the building of 21st century libraries, a lasting legacy which will have a significant impact on the learning outcomes for an entire generation of children. What could be more revolutionary than that?

On top of this, $810 million has been approved to build and refurbish 537 science laboratories and language centres. I am proud that Mount Clear College in my own electorate will build an Asian Languages Centre—incorporating within this centre Australia’s first Confucius classroom in partnership with Nanjing No 1 School in China. This is alongside the government’s reintroduction of the NALSAS program, which was cut by the previous government. It will put young people who go through this centre in a prime position for employment opportunities here and overseas.

We have heard from the opposition members today about the issue of accountability. We have heard the member for Sturt gleefully welcoming the audit of the Building the Education Revolution as though somehow the fact that there is an audit into such a large program expenditure is unusual. Not only do the opposition want the audit report—they are gleefully welcoming the audit report, as are we; we are very pleased it is occurring—but they also seek to pre-empt the actual outcome. I have sat on the Joint Committee for Public Accounts and Audit for a long period of time and I can tell the House there is nothing unusual about the Audit Office undertaking an audit of a program of this size. It is extremely common that that occurs. In fact, what would have been unusual is if they had not done an audit into this program.

It is disappointing that the Shadow Minister for Education has not been supportive of the education revolution. We welcome the audit of this program because we know that a review will outline to those opposite how the Building the Education Revolution is working to improve education facilities across every corner of our nation, and how local communities are benefiting from this new infrastructure.

We do know that with such an unprecedented level of investment there will be difficulties, given the time frames, the complexity of the programs and this massive investment. This is a huge, unprecedented level of investment. There will, of course, be problems. But, unlike the opposition, who are using every problem that occurs—we know they are going to occur—to make a political point, those of us on this side of the House are working through those problems and trying to actually fix them, because they are all completely fixable. It is understandable that they are occurring, but we on this side of the House do not want to make political points about them; we actually want to get on with the business of building this important infrastructure and fixing the problems as they occur.

The member for Sturt has also made much of the need for value for money. I would like the member for Sturt—and the offer is out there—to make a list of every school which he does not believe should be getting funding. He should make a list of every school which he thinks has been poorly targeted, and we can go to those schools and let them know that the opposition does not believe that they should get funding. But let me wait. In fact, the opposition do not believe that any school should get any funding because they voted against this proposition. Here they are, saying, ‘It is poorly targeted. It should be better targeted. There are problems with it,’ about a program which if they had been in government would not exist at all—not a single school would be getting a cent.

I wonder if the member for Sturt will go along to the opening of the infrastructure projects in his electorate—infrastructure projects like the one at the Paradise Primary School. I read in one of the local newspapers in his electorate, the East Torrens Messenger, that the Paradise Primary School Principal, Peter Scragg, is pretty excited about the funding that he is getting. He says:

This Federal Government initiative has allowed us, for the first time in a long time, to lift our eyes to the horizon, to have a pipe dream of what is possible …

It is disappointing that the member for Sturt is so unsupportive of that dream.

The Rudd government is also delivering $2.2 billion to a digital education revolution. To date, 78,000 computers have been delivered to Australian schools. Fourteen schools in my own electorate share in 2,154 new computers. We are delivering on our $2.5 billion Trades Training Centres in Schools Program. So far, over 400 schools nationwide have benefited from the $425 million already announced.

Across the nation we have also seen 15 projects approved under the first round of our Local Schools Working Together Pilot Program. Some $31.7 million has already been delivered of the total $62.5 million available. Again in my own electorate, Sebastopol College, in partnership with other schools, is building a $2.476 million college community hub, which will be a significant asset for an area in my community that has been disadvantaged for some time. It is a great project. We have acted with the states and territories to deliver a national curriculum, and already significant progress has been made. We have invested through the National Education Agreement, and are working far more closely on transparency and accountability across the system. These are all significant reforms.

Unlike the opposition, who sit in a policy vacuum, this government believe that all children, regardless of their background or location, should be given the opportunity to achieve their full potential. We want to lift literacy and numeracy rates, we want to make sure that young people are being taught by high-quality teachers, we want schools to provide support for disadvantaged students and we want higher standards in all schools. Parents have the right to expect the very best education facilities and learning experience for their children. We are delivering through both a major reform agenda and an unprecedented investment in education infrastructure. Rather than criticising and carping about our policies, it is well and truly time the Opposition came up with one of their own. (Time expired)

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