Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Education, Senator Carr. Will the minister confirm that Labor has broken its promise that every student in years 9 to 12 will have, and I quote, ‘their own school computer’?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Mason knows that his question is based on a false presumption. His assertion is simply wrong and it is rejected by the government. The Australian government is investing $1.2 billion over five years in the digital education revolution to improve access to world-class information for Australian secondary students. One part of this investment is $1.1 billion for the National Secondary School Computer Fund. Round 1 of the fund is providing $116 million to 896 secondary schools across Australia—that is, 116,820 computers, taking the computer-student ratios under the previous government of one to eight, or worse, to a ratio of one to two. In the first round of funding already initiated, some 10,238 computers have been delivered to 107 schools across Australia.

Under round 2 of school funding, a total of 1,420 schools across Australia have applied—that is, 793 government schools, 342 independent schools and 285 Catholic schools. By the end of this year, all of the non-government schools will have received funding for their computers. At the conclusion of the COAG negotiations and the on-costs discussions, government schools will be in a position to begin receiving computers for the 2009 school year. (Time expired)

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I note the minister’s reference to round 1 one of the computers in schools program. Given the government’s professed urgency to distribute computers to the most needy students under round 1, can the minister guarantee that all computers promised under round 1 will be on students’ desks by the end of the 2008 school year?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question, as the good senator knows, is nonsensical. Under round 1 of the funding arrangements, 10,238 computers have been delivered to 107 schools. That means that we are moving from a situation under the former government—your government, Senator Mason—of a ratio of computers to students of one to eight, and up to one to 12 in some schools, to a ratio of one to two. That is a substantial improvement in equality of opportunity for students in Australian schools, as a direct result of this government’s actions. We are in the process of rolling out $1.1 billion worth of expenditure in round 1 and round 2, which of course, as the senator knows, has only just closed. The expectation is that a further number of schools, some 793 government schools, 342 independent schools and 285 Catholic schools— (Time expired)

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. I note that only 10,000 out of one million computers due have been delivered. Doesn’t Labor’s own one-year progress report confirm that Labor has broken its promise, when it says, ‘The government’s aim is to lift all remaining secondary schools to a ratio of one computer for every two students as soon as possible’?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I really do suggest, Senator Mason, that you get some consultants in to assist you with your tactics committee if that is the quality of questions as a result of these profound reforms. I do not know how more quickly than ‘as soon as possible’ things can be delivered. What should we say—that it should be even more quickly than as soon as possible? What a nonsense! The former government’s computer-student ratio was one to 12—one to eight, on average. We are reducing that to one to two as soon as possible. We are honouring our election commitment to the letter.