Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Social Inclusion. What steps has the government taken to invest in the infrastructure for the education revolution? Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any risks in making this record investment in Australia’s education system?

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

I thank the member for Braddon for his question. He is, of course, a former schoolteacher. I have had the opportunity to visit some of the educational establishments in Braddon with the member, including one of his vocational education and training establishments. I am asked by the member for Braddon about infrastructure in schooling and education generally. Of course, amongst the things we inherited from the former government—high interest rates, a high inflation environment—we also inherited the consequences of more than a decade—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! The question has been asked.

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

of neglect of infrastructure investment in education. Of course, we also inherited a skills crisis, a capacity constraint that in and of itself put upwards pressure on inflation.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hockey interjecting

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

Well, the former government did give us Work Choices. Yes, they did do that, absolutely—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hockey interjecting

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

Order! The member for North Sydney will cease interjecting. The Deputy Prime Minister will ignore him.

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

a strategy to make sure that people lost pay and conditions. They did give us that, so that is one thing they still stand for and one thing they unambiguously did—they introduced Work Choices to rip pay and conditions out of the wallets and purses of working Australians. They certainly stand for that. But, whilst, of course, they were engaged in industrial relations extremism, what was happening in education? What was happening in education was that the infrastructure of it was being allowed to end up neglected and in disrepair, and, in many schools around this country, students were trying to learn vocational education and training skills in workshops that would have been more appropriate to the fifties and sixties than to the 21st century.

The Rudd Labor government is addressing this problem through our program of building trades training centres in schools. Already we have invested more than $90 million in 34 projects in 96 schools. Whilst the opposition calls out, ‘Play the blame game,’ ‘Blame state governments,’ ‘Do something else,’ we are delivering. And just listen to the feedback, not from me but from school principals who have benefited under this program. Take, for example, Principal Brendan Lawler of St Edmund’s College in the electorate of the member for Blair—and I am sure the member for Blair is very familiar with this announcement. Brendan Lawler said about his trades training proposal, which was successful:

I doubt if we could have had better news to begin Term 3 than the announcement made on Monday by Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, that under the Trades Training Centres in Schools Program, a grant of $2.99M was made to build a facility at St Edmund’s College.

And there is this feedback from Wodonga Senior Secondary College in the electorate of the member for Indi, due to receive over $8 million to build a trades training centre to serve the region. Principal Peter MacLean wrote in his school newsletter:

The announcement is wonderful news for the whole Wodonga community both as an economic boost of great significance and for the long term educational opportunities it will provide.

This of course was the first round. The second round is available for applications now. There is more than $300 million available in the second round—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I can hear members of the opposition calling out they hate money going into schools, but we will deliver that $300 million in any event.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! Those on my left will come to order.

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

But of course I am asked about risks to the capital investment in education. Apart from the Trades Training Centres in Schools Program, in the recent budget we created the Education Investment Fund, an $11 billion fund—with $5 billion coming out of the surplus. And of course you cannot put money in a nation-building education investment fund if you destroy the surplus. So, after more than a decade of neglect from the opposition benches, the Liberal Party are now trying to prevent money being invested in education and training infrastructure by irresponsibly punching a hole in the surplus. Well, people who want to see the infrastructure of universities and vocational education and training upgraded will judge the Liberal Party by their actions. The surplus is there to put downwards pressure on inflation and interest rates; the surplus is there to be invested in nation-building projects like education. We are saying to the Liberal Party that, after a decade of neglect, the very least they could do is get out of the way while the Rudd Labor government is fixing the problem.