Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be in the Main Committee for the consideration in detail with the next leader of the Labor Party. I do not think the member for Hotham ever got the chance he deserved as leader of the opposition. I certainly supported him back then against the member for Werriwa but it looks like he will get the chance next time and I am very pleased. He was the only Labor leader never to be able to face an election and was a very cruel cutting-down too early in an otherwise glittering political career. So I look forward to his opportunity to rise to the top of the podium.

Today is for consideration in detail of education matters so I will not delay the House. I do have a series of questions and the minister might choose to answer them today or take them on notice and respond accordingly. I think the time limit for each of these contributions is five minutes, and I will probably take more like about 10. Maybe it will be five, but I will get started. These questions are about the Building the Education Revolution program, which the minister represents in the House of Representatives. The first question relates to the Building the Education Revolution Implementation Taskforce interim report of August 2010. Recommendation 1 of that report was:

In the interest of transparency and public accountability, the Taskforce recommends that each education authority publish school specific project cost data related to BER P21 in a nationally common structure with consistent definitions.

The department, in response, indicated that the government would:

… put in place a nationally common structure with consistent definitions. If education authorities agree, this structure will be published by December 2010.

My first question is: when will this data be published? My second question is: if data has not been published as recommended by the taskforce, why has it not been published and when is it expected to be published? My third question is: if any education authorities did not agree to publish the data, could the minister indicate which education authorities have not agreed to publish it? Finally, why will the minister not put the data on the My School website? Do you want to answer them one after the other, Minister, and then I will come back? Or do you want me to ask all my questions now?

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