Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have highlighted this issue outside and inside this chamber. You are welcome to visit this school and talk to the principal and the P&C president, Member for Dobell, because this is a serious issue affecting my community. There are other reasons we need an inquiry—an inquiry which, unlike the Orgill commission, has the power to call witnesses and get the documents to get to the bottom of it. One of the most fundamental reasons for needing that power in this inquiry is that there are more principals out there who do know that there have been big problems with the BER and its implementation. Many have spoken to me but I am not able to reveal their names and I am not able to say what the facts are because they fear for their careers. They say: ‘I cannot tell you this. I cannot tell you that the painting contractors that have been brought in by the New South Wales government to paint the school have cost five times what the principal can get a local contractor to paint the school for.’ They know that there is a culture in New South Wales and in our country where, under this administration, you do not speak if you have a problem like that. But they are outraged. There are many principals who exist in this culture in Australia today who want to say something, who would do better for their school community if they could and who want to make a difference. That is why we have to get to the bottom of this.

We have to get to the bottom of this because this is a big government program. This is not the standard of governance that we should settle for in this country. We have to have an inquiry that has the powers to deliver the real outcomes to ensure that government funding is spent wisely, frugally and better. That is why the P&C president at Annangrove Public School, who as well is not political, came forward. When the member for Sturt and the Leader of the Opposition visited these schools, they told them, ‘The coalition’s policy is to return control to the local boards and the local schools.’ The member for Blair said, ‘What would you do, member for Sturt?’ We have said clearly what we would do in government—that is, give the public school the right to pick its own buildings, the right to decide what it needs on the ground. It is a better model for public schools. Who benefited from the BER program? I come from a state with a blend of great public schools and great private schools, and every one of those private and independent schools got a great benefit out of the BER program. Why? Because they ran the project. They designed it, they chose it and they delivered it.

The Catholic system is a great example of how you can do this right, but this government does not want to know how you can do it right. The worst outcomes were in the public schools—that is, from the party of the worker. You should be upset over there. The public schools in Australia got the worst outcomes from the BER and in many cases were ripped off. You really should hang your heads in shame because it is this side of politics that is saying here today that we should look into this, that we should ensure that every dollar spent by the public purse is spent wisely and spent in a way that delivers the real outcomes that our schools and education system need.

New South Wales is one of the worst examples of maladministration in Australia. That was what was found by the ANAO and by others, such as the Orgill inquiry. New South Wales does have problems; it does have a huge bureaucracy. Huge management fees were taken by the New South Wales government. Why is it that the Catholic system can deliver on time, on budget and with only a small proportion of management fees but the New South Wales government gets to take a large chunk of the money out in management fees? I have to say, on behalf of all my public schools, on behalf of all the principals who are too afraid to come forward due to the culture of the worst government in New South Wales history—a government that has gone beyond rotten, that has gone beyond stale and that has given public administration in New South Wales and Australia the worst possible name—and on behalf of all those P&Cs: no, this money was not spent wisely and we are here to do something about it.

I would encourage the members for New England, Kennedy, Lyne, Denison and Melbourne to really think about this bill. We need to shine a light on this program because, no matter what side of politics we come from, we need to lift the standard of public administration in governments. We have to show governments like the New South Wales government that if you waste the money of taxpayers from New South Wales and the Commonwealth you will be held accountable. Something is rotten in the state of New South Wales and something is rotten with a federal government that is willing to vote down a bill like this, which aims to get to the bottom of it.

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