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

Can I respond to the member for Mayo’s question. The COAG reform process, including the national partnership agreements and the agreements that were struck to deliver economic stimulus, required maintenance of effort by jurisdictions. This is being monitored through a Treasury to Treasury process. Obviously, that is the best way of getting to all of the figures. I would remind him that the provision of capital tends to be lumpy capital. That is the term used. That means you can have budgeting for a big capital project in one year. So you should not necessarily expect to see ever-rising figures—it will depend. Pre-existing budget arrangements obviously had some variability in the figures year to year, depending on the size of construction projects being brought to a conclusion in any given year. But the COAG agreement process ensures maintenance of effort and, let me assure you, we are very serious about that.

On the question of the rainwater and bushfire arrangements that he talks about, my advice is that, because of new protocols about school construction in areas that could be affected by bushfire, if you are extending the footprint of the school then you need to extend the availability of water in emergency circumstances. Consequently, as we extend the footprint of the school through Building the Education Revolution then the availability of water is also being extended in accordance with those protocols. I have corresponded with him about that matter and that is the explanation: to make sure that with the new buildings we are acquitting the relevant obligations have been put in place to do the best to ensure that the schools are kept safe insofar as is possible during the circumstance of bushfire.

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