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. I refer to Abbotsford Primary School in New South Wales, where the school community has shown greater fiscal responsibility than the Rudd government in trying to optimally use their $2.5 million grant under the so-called Building the Education Revolution. Will the minister now guarantee that the school community’s unanimous voice will be heard and that they will receive their four new classrooms under the BER while at the same time being allowed to keep the existing four classrooms slated by the Rudd and Rees Labor governments?

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cameron interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is disorderly to interrupt when a question is being asked, Senator Cameron.

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

This is yet another matter that Senator Mason has unfortunately been asked to raise in the Senate. I know that it is a dreadful situation, Senator. Through 12 years of opposition there were occasions, I must confess, when there were questions that on reflection I should have sent back. This is—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, I draw your attention to the question. You have one minuted 29 seconds remaining to answer the question.

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

And, Mr President, I am directly answering the question. I am just advising Senator Mason that there are occasions when it would be smarter to send these sorts of things back instead of running the lines that appear in the Australian irrespective of whether or not they are correct. We have a situation here—

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order on relevance. You reminded the minister to answer the question. He then continued on with his diatribe and did not start answering the question. Page 37 of the Notice Paper distributed to us reminds him to be directly relevant to the question.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, I draw your attention to the question that was asked and I ask that you answer it.

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

As always, I am being directly relevant to the facts in this matter. The circumstances surrounding Abbotsford Public School, where the buildings that we heard about were in fact constructed in the 1950s and are in need of being refurbished—

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 1970s.

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

They were partly refurbished in the 1970s. The New South Wales Department of Education and Training has advised that the nomination was put forward by the New South Wales government on behalf of the school and it was accepted by the school community on 25 May. Subsequently, the school community indicated that they wished to have additional classrooms constructed. What we have found is that the school currently has four spare classrooms in their current quota. One is being used as a specialist music room, another is a specialist Italian room and there are two spare classrooms that are not currently in use. The New South Wales Department of Education and Training confirms that the demographic data shown on the enrolments of this school are likely to increase in the next few years and the New South Wales department’s view is that even at the future— (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 refer to Evesham State School in Queensland, where a $250,000 grant is attached to the school’s single student and, should that school close down, the grant will follow her to her next school, which has already started a bidding war among other schools for the student. Will the minister explain how a grant can be given to a school with only one student, particularly when that school did not apply for a grant in the first place?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise the point of order I raised yesterday, which goes to the question of the opposition’s use of supplementary questions that have completely different subject matters to the original questions. In this instance a primary question was asked about activities at a school in New South Wales and the supplementary is a question about a school in Queensland, with no suggestion that there is any sort of context to that. Mr President, I ask that you have a look at this matter and advise the chamber, because it seems to me that this is an abuse of the use of supplementary questions.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hopefully, Senator Carr has found his brief by now! Mr President, on the point of order, the primary question was about the Building the Education Revolution, and Senator Mason clearly referred to that. He has now referred to another example of the Building the Education ‘so-called’ Revolution, but in Queensland. I thought this Building the Education Revolution program was nationwide, not only in New South Wales, and therefore it is appropriate to ask a supplementary about a particular school in Queensland.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the point of order I will rule, as I did yesterday, that there is no point of order and the question is in order. However, I will take away the comment that Senator Evans made and I will review the questions and, if needs be, those matters will be referred to the Procedures Committee. If necessary I will bring any detailed statements back to this chamber. But the question stands.

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

It is not hard to find the brief; it is the same idiotic question we had yesterday. What we have here is a situation where the Liberals feel the need to mouth the incorrect slogans being voiced through the Australian. Senator Mason, I have more respect for your ability; however, it is falling away, given your capacity not to send these sorts of silly things back. In the case of Evesham State School, the Queensland Department of Education reports that a sudden drop in enrolments was not predicted and it related to the personal circumstances of some families at the school. This is in the context where over the next 12 months there will be 23,000 BER projects in around 9,500 schools across the Commonwealth of Australia. We are in a circumstance where this government is investing $62 billion in school education compared to $33 billion in the entire— (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.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From Tasmania this time?

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

Senator Evans will be happy with this. Isn’t the grandmother of Evesham State School’s only student, Mrs Joanne Hall, correct when she says that spending a quarter of a million dollars on a school library for one student is a ‘waste of money’?

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

I think the Liberal Party are having a lot of trouble reading the Australian from day to day, because they are obviously relying upon the same worn-out old stories. The Queensland Department of Education has negotiated with the Commonwealth department—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! When there is silence we will proceed.

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

I am sure Senator Mason is in fact aware that, under the current administrative arrangements, major constructions at schools that are identified for potential closure pending the outcome of community consultations may well have their constructions delayed. But should a school be approved for closure the Department of Education in Queensland have agreed to redirect the BER funding to the schools that students attend. I say this: in the context where this government is spending $62 billion on school eduction—the Liberals in their last term spent half that—we have doubled the funding for teacher quality, literacy and numeracy— (Time expired)