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

The shadow minister raised some questions about Mr Orgill and the Building the Education Revolution Implementation Taskforce. He raised some questions particularly about payment. That is a matter that is dealt with by the Remuneration Tribunal—that is, it is dealt with independently.

17:44:40

He raised some questions about the identity of the people serving on the task force. This was actually the subject of quite extensive recent publicity, including in the Australian newspaper, but we are obviously happy to supply to the shadow minister—should he have missed the media reports—the details of the people who are assisting Mr Orgill. These include people with quantity surveying expertise and people with, literally, a lifetime of experience in building and construction.

The documents within the reach of the task force—I have answered this question in the House of Representatives—are defined by our national partnership agreements that support Building the Education Revolution. Mr Orgill is able to use the powers of the Commonwealth to get all documents necessary that are held by education authorities to assist his inquiries. The task force has already analysed all complaints that the BER national coordinator has received since the inception of the program as well as 40 or so complaints that have been sent directly to the task force through their website. On the basis of this, the task force has already formulated a program of visits to schools to benchmark BER projects across jurisdictions and to investigate complaints. The task force will be producing a report in August. I have met personally with Mr Orgill and I have indicated to him personally—and have indicated publicly—that should Mr Orgill wish to produce any early recommendations the government is all ears for those recommendations and will respond to them as quickly as possible after they are received.

We can provide the shadow minister with details of the task force members, obviously, but he may have seen the report in the Australian newspaper on 3 June following the announcement by Mr Orgill of other task force members. There are two deputy chairs. One is David Chandler, a former chief executive, director, adviser and chairman in public and private sectors. He received an Order of Australia in 1989 for services to the construction industry. He owns a consulting practice known as Resolution Services Group. The other deputy chair is Mr Alex Buchan. He is the Senior Director of Altus Page Kirkland. He has 15 years of experience and is an expert in selection of procurement and delivery methods for large construction projects. The task force is supported by an advisory panel, including Leonie Trimper, the head of the Primary Principals Association; Uschi Schreiber, a Managing Partner of Ernst & Young; Michael Heenan a principal of Allen Jack+Cottier, Alan Duncan who is the director of a quantity surveying firm—(Time expired)

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