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

My question is to the Minister for Education. I refer the minister to the Perseverance Primary School. The entire school student body can be seen in this photograph, sitting around the table—one teacher and five students. This photograph was found on the internet, so it is quite widely available. All the student body is sitting around the table in this photograph. Perseverance Primary School has been granted $50,000 for a new arts hub, under the National School Pride Program, and is also entitled to $250,000 for a school hall. The school has five students. Does the minister think this represents value for money for the Australian taxpayer at $60,000 per student?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Get them another teacher!

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

I thank the shadow minister, the member for Sturt, for his question, and I thank the shadow Treasurer for his interjections, because it may cause him to reflect on the additional money we are putting into quality teaching, $550 million; the additional money we are putting into disadvantaged schools, $1.5 billion; the money we are putting into literacy and numeracy, $540 million; and it goes on. The shadow minister’s commitment to education is such that during the course of this year he has put one speech on his website. There are more speeches on his website about how the Liberal Party has lost its way than there are speeches about the future of Australian education.

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

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. I know the minister is embarrassed about the question and about the fact that she has so bungled the BER, but I would ask her to come to the question.

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

The member for Sturt will resume his seat.

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

On the question from the shadow minister, I will check the facts, because the shadow minister’s work rate would not lead you to believe that his research is likely to be right. He did say when he held the photograph up that he had simply obtained it from the internet. So, firstly, I will check the facts. Secondly, I would say to the shadow minister opposite: is he suggesting that small schools in this country should not get federal government support? If he is suggesting that, then I will be very happy to convey that message on his behalf to every small school in this country. Of course, it would be a subset of a broader message, which would be that the Liberal Party has got no policies on education and does not support ‘a’ school building or ‘a’ school refurbishment under the Building the Education Revolution program, because they voted against it for all schools.

On the question of allocations, allocations are correlated with school size; that is true. We also have flexibility in the BER guidelines to work with states and territories and block grant authorities in the independent and Catholic school systems on allocations for schools if the schools believe that a reallocation is necessary to best meet student needs. I see the shadow minister is laughing at that, but I have got a lot of respect for the people who run the block grant authority in the Catholic education system—the various Catholic education officers around the country. I am prepared to take their advice; he may not be. I am prepared to take advice from the block grant authorities that run independent schools around the country. They run many fine schools and I am prepared to take their advice. I am also prepared to take advice from states and territories about school systems around the country.

Here we have once again a Liberal Party with no policies, plans or perspectives on education and with a decade of failure which we are now addressing—a Liberal Party that came into this parliament and voted against the biggest school modernisation program in this nation’s history—and all they can do on education is come in and carp and moan, because they are incapable of a positive vision. The Australian people deserve better. They deserve a debate on education. Australians around this country are debating education. The entity left out of that debate is the Liberal Party. It comes down to the lack of judgment of the Leader of the Opposition in putting someone so incompetent and lazy in the shadow portfolio.

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

I seek leave to table the photograph of the Perseverance Primary School, the five students and their teacher.

Leave not granted.