Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate Senator Ferguson on this occasion because, having listened to three Liberal Party senators speak to this motion, with 2½ minutes remaining he actually got to the detail and the issues around the motion. Let me remind anyone listening to this debate what the motion actually suggests, and then I will try and insert some facts into this debate rather than irresponsible and scurrilous allegations never sustained by any evidence. We have listened to the claims of rorting and not heard one example. We have listened to the claims that we are inflating an industry. Senator Ferguson described these measures as a Christmas present.

I think we need to take a step back and look at what these measures were designed to deal with. Certainly the Labor Party went to the last election promising an education revolution because this particular area of social policy had been neglected for many, many years at both state and federal levels. We were supported in that policy and we were elected with it as a very clear policy commitment. Further to that, when the Rudd government was confronted with the global financial crisis, we identified education as a key area where we could stimulate the economy with long-term investment designed to bolster the skills and infrastructure and at the same time deliver jobs. This whole debate has ignored the stimulus aspect.

As a senator who has sat through the Senate inquiry into the stimulus measures and countless estimates hearings about the implementation of this program, I am absolutely amazed at the quality of what has been put into this debate by the opposition. It simply goes to show that Tony Abbott’s claim that they were finally going to start working as an opposition is simply vacuous. Why haven’t you had contribute to this debate those senators that have been asking questions about this program in Senate estimates? Why hasn’t there been some quality about the detail in this discussion? Why is Senator Brett Mason not contributing to this discussion as the shadow parliamentary secretary? Why do we simply have baseless and inaccurate claims proffered? The comparison between these programs and the difficulties that we are having with the insulation sector are ludicrous. The suggestion that what the Rudd government has been able to do in schools compares to the difficulties in insulation is just laughable.

This is another example of the scaremongering—and fairly flippant, glib scaremongering at that—that the opposition continues to try and peddle out. Nothing has changed under Tony Abbott as leader—nothing at all. I had my office go back and look at the last time scaremongering was attempted in this area, because I could remember back in November last year exactly the same allegations being raised. As I said, I sat through countless Senate estimates hearings and heard case after case examined but at the end of the day resolved without the difficulties that were being put forward.

Senator Arbib highlighted this point back in November in question time. He indicated that, on the last stocktake that I am aware of that occurred here, there had been only 60 complaints, with one unresolved complaint, out of 24,000 schools. I am sure those figures have changed between then and now, because, yes, in a very complex delivery process there are going to be ongoing difficulties. There are going to be cost overruns. There are going to be time delays. And yes, indeed, in any major program there is going to be some degree of rorting. That is why it is the responsibility of any person in public life, if they are aware of rorting, to report it.