Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to raise my concerns about the so-called Building the Education Revolution program and Primary Schools for the 21st Century. I note from the outset that the costs have blown out for this program by more than $1 billion. My key concern relates to the issue of value for money and the lack of strategic direction in the program. Anyone can dream up a good idea and come up with a policy initiative, but the challenge is delivery on the ground. That is when the reputation of a minister is either made or lost. I can tell you now that the Minister for Education’s reputation lies in tatters around every school construction site in regional Victoria.

I raised this issue with the minister in May last year in relation to opportunities to make sure that schools get the fundamental issue of value for money covered off in any program to dole out funding for construction projects. I argued at that time that the schools should have the opportunity to receive funding directly to ensure that they could drive value for money and drive local employment opportunities in their own communities. Schools from right across Gippsland contacted me at that time and told me they would prefer to hire local contractors to undertake the work in their area and create local jobs in their local communities, particularly providing local jobs for apprentices in our region.

The schools needed the flexibility also to get what they actually need rather than what they were told to receive by the state government, which is in charge of managing the program. The principals who contacted me directly believed they could do a better job and secure a better price if they had that direct access to the grant money rather than following these strict government guidelines and seeing their funding absorbed by bureaucratic costs at head office.

I invite the schools in my electorate now to write to me—anonymously if they need to, because they are not allowed to speak out on anything against the state or federal government—to raise any concerns and any rip-offs they have seen in their own community from the state government creaming money off the top or from building firms inflating their prices. I note the concerns being raised by the members opposite, and I just say for the record: this is all about value for money; this has got nothing to do with the original decision. I actually supported a smaller package at that time and argued that it was in the best interests of our community to make sure it was strategically delivered to schools who needed it most. But value for money has completely gone out the window while this government has been shovelling money out the front door.

The education minister has a basic character flaw in that she can never be wrong—she can never accept that other people may have advice to offer to her which is constructive and can work in favour of Australian taxpayers. The education minister is a bit like Imelda Marcos in the shoe shop: she is out there just keeping on spending—and let the peasants pay for it! Australian taxpayers are tired of being treated like peasants. They are demanding value for money and demanding that the minister intervenes to stop the rip-offs under this program. I cannot name a single numeracy and literacy benefit to come from the $16.2 billion program. This has all been about shovelling money out the door in a panicked attempt by the government to buy its way out of trouble when it thought the global financial situation was out of control. There is no strategic direction in the program and there is no commitment to the fundamental responsibility of value for money. (Time expired)