Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. It also relates to the Prime Minister’s commitment to open government. I ask the Prime Minister whether he will provide the House with all departmental advice on the real cost of his government’s proposal to provide computers for every secondary school student in years 9, 10, 11 and 12.

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

Have you ever asked me?

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You don’t know the answer.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the member for Casey and the Deputy Prime Minister want to have a discussion, I can arrange it by asking them to leave the chamber. Otherwise, it is the Prime Minister who is getting the call.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If we are to build long-term productivity growth in Australia, we need an education revolution. If we are going to have an education revolution, we have to make sure we have digital classrooms, which means that every kid across the country has access to the tools of the new economy. It does not matter whether you are in a private school or a public school, in regional Australia, rural Australia or metro Australia—we want every kid to have a decent start in life. That is why in opposition we gave an undertaking that we would introduce our computers in schools policy.

In order to provide Australian students with the best job and life opportunities in the future, the Commonwealth government is investing $900 million through the National Secondary School Computer Fund to provide new, upgraded ICT for students in years 9 to 12. The first $100 million from the fund will be directed to the most needy schools by June 2008. However, the Council of Australian Governments has also agreed that, to the extent that there are any legitimate and additional costs to the states and territories as a consequence of this commitment, the costs will be considered by treasurers in the final determination of the new specific purpose payments arrangements at year’s end.

We believe in investing in the future and investing in education’s future. If you are going to have an education revolution and position our young people as world-beaters in the 21st century, this is what you have to do—not spend 12 years raking in the money from the mining boom and not investing any significant quantity at all in the future educational needs of young Australians and Australia’s workforce of the future.