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

I would say, particularly following the Prime Minister’s answer, that in the middle of a global recession the Leader of the Opposition may like to note that the importance of the Building the Education Revolution Program and consequently delivering it quickly is about supporting jobs today—the jobs of tradespeople, of carpenters, plumbers and electricians—whilst building the biggest school modernisation in the nation’s history. Of course, he refers to one project out of more than 24,000 projects in 9,500 schools around the country. Given the inability of the opposition to answer my last question to it, a question I have asked before, in detail, we can only assume that this is a project that the Leader of the Opposition is opposed to—just like he is opposed to each of the more than 24,000 others. The Leader of the Opposition may choose to go to Abbotsford Public School and explain that he is opposed to this project, he is opposed to every dollar of expenditure and he is opposed to every job that this project will support.

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