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

My question is to the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery, Senator Arbib. I refer the minister to a briefing cheat sheet for government backbenchers relating to Building the Education Revolution that directs Labor members and senators not to deny complaints from schools:

… that they are being forced to use quotes from the State Government that are more expensive than what they could source locally.

Given the minister has on numerous occasions assured the Senate that taxpayers are receiving value for money from the BER, will the minister now admit that projects under the BER are costing taxpayers much more than they should?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very proud to rise again to speak on Building the Education Revolution, one of the absolute cornerstones of the government’s stimulus package. Again, thousands and thousands of tradespeople are working on this program—we are talking about plumbers, electricians and carpenters—and there are flow-on effects to other sectors within the economy.

Can I say to the good senator that of course this is not a program that can be implemented by the federal government alone. We are talking about over 24,000 individual programs in 9½ thousand schools. There is no way that the federal government can do this alone. That is why we are working cooperatively not only with the state governments and the territory governments but also with independent schools and schools in the Catholic system. That is what the government is doing, and the logistical challenges of this are great. If any good senator has ever built or renovated a house they will understand the difficulties in constructing such a mammoth number of schools. That is what the government has undertaken.

But the best part of the Building the Education Revolution is that we are getting school infrastructure that was absolutely neglected by Liberal senators on the other side of the chamber—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

The Speaker:

Order! Senator Arbib, resume your seat. The time for debating this is at the end of question time. If you have a different view to that being expressed by the minister then the time to debate it is at the end of question time. Senator Arbib.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Schools were absolutely neglected by the coalition in their time in office. That is your record—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

The Speaker:

Order! Senator Arbib, resume your seat. As I said, the time to debate it is at the end of question time. Senator Arbib.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Those are the facts. While the rest of the OECD was investing in education, the Liberal Party and the National Party were taking those funds away— (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 the minister to the suggested response to that complaint, which is:

State and territory authorities and block grant authorities are responsible for managing the application process as it relates to individual schools.

Given that the Rudd government has repeatedly promised to ‘end the blame game’, will this government now take responsibility for the fact that both taxpayers and school communities are not receiving value for money on projects funded under the BER?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, Matlock over here has found out that the application process was managed by the states—gee, what a surprise! It is well known; it is actually in the guidelines. All Senator Mason had to do was turn on his computer and go to the guidelines and he could have worked that out himself. But in fact he decided to bring that in here, to this Senate, and raise it. It is no surprise. Again, Senator, we are working cooperatively with the states, the territories and the block grant authorities—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

The Speaker:

Senator Arbib, resume your seat. When there is silence we will proceed. Senator Arbib.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to Senator Mason: Senator, you wish and your party wishes to roll back the stimulus package. If you wish to do that, come into this room and tell us which schools are going to miss out on funding. Which schools will you cut from the Primary Schools for the 21st Century? That is what it means. You are going to cut funding.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

The Speaker:

Order! Senator Arbib, resume your seat. When there is silence on both sides we will proceed. Senator Arbib, continue.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to a Liberal interjection, they think it is a bad spend—investing in schools is a bad spend. So tell us which schools you will cut. (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. Does the minister find it inconsistent that the government is blaming the states for the cost blow-outs while simultaneously erecting plaques and signs that claim all the credit for the Commonwealth government?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is an absolutely ridiculous statement. As I said, we are working with the states, we are working with the territories and we are delivering on the ground. The Liberal Party talk about the mammoth number of complaints. Can I inform the Senate that the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has received 50 complaints—out of 9½ thousand schools, 50 complaints. So you can talk about the issues, you can nitpick all you want, but the government are delivering. We are delivering for schools and we are ensuring they have the infrastructure they need for the future. At the same time, we are delivering for Australian workers, ensuring they keep their jobs. Again, we are delivering for small business—something that the Liberal Party has given up on.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have given up on small business, you have given up on contractors, and if—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

The Speaker:

Senator Arbib, resume your seat. When there is silence, Senator Arbib will continue. I told you that the time to debate this is at the end of question time. Senator Arbib, continue.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the Liberal Party want to reduce the stimulus, tell us which schools will miss out. (Time expired)