Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How much time do I have, Mr President?

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

Senator Hutchins, I have just given you the call.

Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery, Senator Arbib. Can the minister inform the Senate of the latest details regarding the rollout of the education infrastructure stimulus? Is the minister aware of recent positive survey results of school principals which show overwhelming support for Building the Education Revolution?

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

I thank Senator Hutchins for the question and for the outstanding work he has done in the past and continues to do. I think it has now been a number of weeks since we have received a question from Senator Mason or the Liberal Party about the Building the Education Revolution. They seem to have forgotten about the Building the Education Revolution, but the Rudd government has not.

I can report to the Senate that there are now 11,000 projects approved, with 8,000 school projects underway. There are 2½ thousand projects with on site work, with activity taking place right now on school campuses, supporting schools for the future. Twenty-nine projects have already been completed. In terms of science and language centres, there are over 500 projects already approved, almost 400 underway and 30 with construction having started.

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

The coalition can interject, they can criticise, they can laugh, but this is supporting Australian jobs. This is supporting tradespeople throughout the countryside—plumbers, electricians, carpenters and bricklayers. It is supporting their businesses and supporting small business. The coalition may have forgotten about small business but the Rudd government has not. We will not forget about the small businesses who need support during the global recession, and this is how the Rudd government is responding to the global recession. We are doing it through infrastructure—infrastructure in schools—something you forgot about.

I can also do some research through the newspapers. Queensland’s Courier-Mail of 6 November refers to property and construction consultants Davis Langdon. What did they say about the Building the Education Revolution? They said:

Without the BER program, which is projected to be complete first quarter of 2011 there is no doubt there would be wholesale job losses in the construction industry.

That is what business is saying. They need this stimulus. They need these projects. Australian schools need the projects. (Time expired)

Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, this is my first supplementary question. Can the minister provide examples of how the education infrastructure stimulus is supporting jobs as well as delivering vital school infrastructure? Is it true that there is only one complaint unresolved regarding the education infrastructure stimulus? Is it also true that there have been only 60 complaints regarding the education stimulus out of a total of 24,000 projects?

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

Thank you, Senator Hutchins. Yes, I can confirm those figures are true. There have only been 60 complaints, with one unresolved complaint out of 24,000 schools. I think that is a pretty good strike rate—there is only one unresolved school matter. A recent survey of 300 principals at the Australian Primary Principals Association conference found that 85 per cent of principals highly approved of the BER and the P21 scheme.

Senator Mason liked doing his research in the media. So do I. Burnie’s The Advocate says that infants are relocating. Coolum & North Shore News says that learning for the 21st century begins at the Yandina Primary School. North Queensland’s Daily Mercury says ‘Blackboards done and dusted’ as they move to the new electronic blackboards. The Sunday Herald Sun says, ‘Science for all’, with science and language centres—

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

Senator Arbib, that is not in order. You can read from the articles but not display them as such. Continue.

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

I am happy to read from these. The Cooma Monaro Express says, ‘Construction begins in schoolyards’. The Tumut & Adelong Times says, ‘Millions in funds for school building— (Time expired)

Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. This might be a little longer! What has the level of public response been to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee inquiry into Primary Schools for the 21st Century? How many schools have taken up the generous offer of Senator Fifield to write in and complain about the school infrastructure that the opposition voted against? How many submissions has Senator Fifield personally made to the committee to pass on the concerns of schools, which he also offered to do in his letter-writing campaign?

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

The Liberal Party and National Party senators made a great deal out of the inquiry that they put forward in the Senate, and I did promise to follow up and check on the figures. Can I advise the Senate that the committee secretariat advise on their website that a total of 33 submissions have been received. Senator Fifield wrote to every school principal in Victoria—and we are talking about almost 2,200 schools that he wrote to—asking them to complain and asking them to put in a submission. Of those 2,200, how many put in a submission? A grand total of 12. And it gets better for Senator Fifield and the Liberal Party. Of those 12, six had positive things to say. There were six complaints out of 2,200 principals. That is what they think about the Building the Education Revolution. Did Senator Fifield put his own submission in? You would be surprised, but he had no submission. (Time expired)