Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to get this question from the member for Perth. I might say that I am surprised that the member for Charlton did not get to his feet at any point to ask me a question, and I will come back to the member for Kingston's questions about higher education. I might even do it in this particular answer.

In terms of the Australian Consensus Centre: the government adopted exactly the same processes that the previous government adopted for its grant of $7 million to the Whitlam Institute at the University of Western Sydney and the $4 million that it granted to The Conversation online website. Of course, governments make decisions continually on the effective use of public spending. The direct funding of targeted research initiatives is a well-established method of achieving value for money and public benefit.

A government member: He came back!

Oh, he's back! Marvellous!

The Australian Consensus Centre is something that the government is absolutely committed to. Obviously, we are—

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