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

In overcoming the shameful neglect of Australian education by the members of the Liberal Party, we have been investing in education. Let me make it absolutely clear: I make no apology whatsoever for engaging in the biggest school modernisation program the nation has ever seen. I make no apology whatsoever for getting into the hands of Australian children hundreds of thousands of computers so they can have access to the learning tools of the 21st century. For the edification of the member for Sturt, each of these figures is accounted for in the budget. Our education spending is in the budget for all to see.

Of course, there is a risk to this education spending. The risk to this education spending is the Leader of the Opposition, Senator Joyce and the member for Sturt—all of whom are on the record as saying they want to cut billions of dollars out of our stimulus program. If you are going to cut billions of dollars out of our stimulus program, you are going to cut billions of dollars out of schools. When I asked for just a modicum of honesty from the supposedly straight-talking Leader of the Opposition, when I asked him to table a list of the schools that would bear the cuts, I got absolute silence. This carry-on from the member for Sturt will be viewed as the hypocrisy it is until the Leader of the Opposition steps up to the dispatch box with a list of schools and says, ‘These are the cuts that I stand by.’

I would say the following thing to the member for Sturt: if he is so concerned—

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