George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

You would know all about politburos, Senator Kim Il Carr. The politburos of state education departments have failed to meet the basic infrastructure needs of Australian schools. I can inform Senator Fifield and honourable senators that the Australian government has invested $1.2 billion in Australian schools through the Investing in Our Schools program. On 28 August the government announced the fourth round of the Investing in Our Schools program, in which we will allocate $49.2 million to New South Wales schools, $6.6 million to schools in the Northern Territory, $23.5 to schools in Victoria, $26.6 million to schools in Queensland, $8.6 million to schools in South Australia, $6.7 million to schools in Tasmania and $17.4 million to schools in Western Australia. So far, the Investing in Our Schools program has provided more than $795 million to state government schools around Australia, funding more than 20,000 projects in almost 7,000 state schools. Let me give you two examples of the Investing in Our Schools program: the provision of shaded structures to the Nundah State School in the electorate of Lilley, and across the Brisbane River in the electorate of Griffith the provision of improvements to play areas for the East Brisbane State School.

Those two examples I have given were not taken at random; they are, of course, respectively in the electorates of Mr Swan, the shadow Treasurer, and Mr Rudd, the Leader of the Opposition—both significant Labor Party figures in Queensland. You would think, would you not, Mr President, that, if anybody could persuade the Beattie government to invest in Queensland schools it would be Mr Rudd and Mr Swan—but no way! Whether it is the Nundah State School in Mr Swan’s electorate or the East Brisbane State School in Mr Rudd’s electorate, it has taken the federal Liberal government to come to the rescue of those schools to provide the infrastructure that they need.

Senator Fifield asked me if I am aware of any alternative policies or policy approaches. I suppose the most obvious alternative policy of which I am aware is the Australian Labor Party’s policy, manifested by its state governments, to underfund and underinvest in Australian schools—something that the Australian government will not do. I would point out to Senator Fifield, in particular, an article in last weekend’s Sunday Telegraph by Sharri Markson, which points out the scandlous underinvestment in New South Wales schools by the Iemma government. (Time expired)