Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Department of Education, Science and Training, Senator Brandis. Will the minister update the Senate on the success of the Australian government’s Investing in Our Schools program. Is the minister aware of any alternative policies or the approaches of other Australian governments?

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

I am delighted to be able to inform Senator Fifield of the current state of the Investing in Our Schools program. Senator Fifield, as the chairman of the government members policy committee, takes a deep and sophisticated interest in educational issues, as all honourable senators would be aware. The Investing in Our Schools program is yet another example, of which there are many, of the Howard government taking up the slack to compensate Australian families for failed, negligent, inefficient state Labor governments. The program allows for school communities, principals and parents, among others, to identify and prioritise the needs of schools and make applications for Australian government funding on a school-by-school basis. It cuts out the inefficient ‘politburos’ of state education departments, who have failed—

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr interjecting—

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

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.