Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education and Minister for Social Inclusion. I refer to the minister’s answer yesterday that the one-student Evesham State School is in ‘community consultation about an amalgamation’. I also refer to the minister’s answer today which identified the nearest other schools to the Evesham State School as between 72 and 124 kilometres distant. Can the minister reconcile these two statements, or does she agree that she has allocated $250,000 to build a library at a one-student school that the House can only conclude on the basis of today’s answer faces the prospect of closure?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question and, to the Leader of the Opposition, he may be interested to know that in his own local electorate there are 43 schools, 103 projects worth $82 million—

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

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: clearly the beginning of this answer is not relevant to the question. If the minister is too embarrassed to answer she should just sit down and admit—

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

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat.

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

Ordinarily, it seems to me that members in this parliament are pretty proud to come into this parliament and represent their local schools and they are pretty proud to hear about developments in their local schools. That is certainly the attitude of this side of the House. Obviously, the Leader of the Opposition is made of different stuff and does not want to know about the more than $82 million going to 103 projects in his 43 local schools. On the question the Leader of the Opposition has asked me—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave the Ponzi scheme out of it.

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

The member for Banks should be very careful. His clean sheet is looking very, very hazy.

Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Mr Speaker: doesn’t the Deputy Prime Minister’s preamble to all these questions constitute tedious repetition?

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

There is no point of order.

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

If the allegation is that I am going to be repetitive talking about the benefits of this program to local schools, the answer is you betcha. On the question about the Evesham State School that the Leader of the Opposition has asked me, I made it clear in answer to an earlier question that no money will be spent at this school whilst it is in consultation about its future. That is a standard part of how the Building the Education Revolution program works. From the outset of this program we said we understand that education authorities—state, catholic, independent—work with school communities and from time to time schools open, schools close and schools amalgamate. That is an ordinary part of the way our education system works. If a school is facing closure or facing amalgamation, then education authorities would work through that process in their standard practice and obviously money would not be allocated and spent on school facilities in schools that are not going to be continuing as school facilities. We have had examples of that in this House in the past. Those examples have been raised by the opposition and I have explained it in the past.

If the Leader of the Opposition is somehow tossing and turning in his bed at night concerned that $250,000 is about to be spent at the Evesham State School and then it is going to close, can I tell him he can go and have a good night’s sleep—that is not what is happening. Can I also say to the Leader of the Opposition that if he wants to broaden his view then he may want to think to himself about how this program is supporting jobs right around the country during the worst global recession in 75 years. He might like to think to himself about how this is modernising our schools as needed for the future. If the Leader of the Opposition is going to lose sleep about anything, I think he should be losing sleep about his lack of support for those local jobs and his lack of support for schools around the country.

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

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the page from the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan which highlights Evesham State School has been allocated $250,000.

Leave not granted.