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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Senator Carr), the Special Minister of State (Senator Ludwig) and the Assistant Treasurer (Senator Sherry) to questions without notice asked by me and Senator Humphries today, relating to education.

I heard in the corridor today that today is a very unattractive anniversary—two years since the election of the Rudd government. Some will be celebrating; many, many more will be commiserating. I want to touch on the failures in education policy this afternoon. Who remembers those wonderful political optics of Mr Rudd before the last election, holding up a laptop computer? Do you remember that? He said, ‘This is the toolbox of the 21st century.’ He promised the delivery of one million laptop computers to every year 9 to year 12 student in this country. This was a core promise. It was a headline in the education revolution.

Two years later, what has happened? After two years only 150,000 have been delivered—a little bit better than one in seven. That is after two years. This is more shambolic implementation by the Rudd Labor government. What is worse is this: the government had budgeted about $1 billion for those one million computers. In fact, it is costing $1.8 billion. That is 80 per cent more than was budgeted. Why? It is because they did not budget for the ongoing costs—the cost of licences, storage, electricity, air conditioning and teaching teachers how to use them. They did not budget for that. So in fact the project is costing $800 million more than was budgeted for. They still cannot get it right.

The computers, even more importantly, were supposed to be connected to the internet. They need to be connected to the internet because otherwise they are basically just glorified typewriters. What has happened after two years? None of those 150,000 computers have been connected to the 100 megabytes per second internet. Not one has been after two years. The government says, ‘We have to wait. Don’t worry. Wait for Senator Conroy and the National Broadband Network, because Senator Conroy is going to fix up our problems.’ What is the chance of that happening? What is the chance that Senator Conroy is going to fix up this problem? The fact is you have one million computers being rolled out hopefully over the next few years and not one of them has been connected to the National Broadband Network and not one of them has been connected to the promised 100 megabytes per second internet—not even one after two years. So what have we got? We have glorified typewriters. This is absolutely shambolic implementation. There was great political optics but no implementation at all.

Without going into the shambolic implementation of the Building the Education Revolution and the Julia Gillard memorial halls, I want to touch on an issue that not much attention has been given to. Not enough attention has been given to this. Do you remember the sorry speech? In February 2008 Mr Rudd made his famous sorry speech and he promised to build 35 children and family centres in remote communities, principally for Indigenous children. That was a centrepiece of the sorry speech and a centrepiece of the education revolution. How many of those centres have been delivered? None. Not one. Construction has commenced on how many of those centres? Not one. Coming on to two years, not even one has commenced. Thirty-five children and family centres in remote communities were to deliver early learning, child-care and family support programs to Indigenous children. None of the promised 35 centres are in existence or for that matter anywhere close to coming into existence. That is after nearly two years. Indeed, no consultations with local communities have even taken place in the overwhelming majority of locations. No construction has commenced at all.

I have no doubt Mr Rudd was sincere in his sorry speech, but the fact is this government is typified by great rhetoric but absolutely appalling implementation. These 35 children and family centres in remote communities were the centrepiece of the sorry speech and, after two years, not even one has been delivered at all. Whether it is the supply of computers to year 9 to year 12 students, the connection to the internet or the 35 children and family centres in remote communities, the delivery of all these educational services has been absolutely appalling.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers given to questions today. But before we go any further, I would like to respond to Senator Mason’s contribution. There is a bit of a history lesson there that I would like to touch on before I go to the core of taking note of the answers. I do remember November 24, 2007. What a remarkable day that was. What a fantastic day it was. I am still celebrating, as are a lot of other Australians. Fortunately we on this side of the chamber are a responsible government—there are no ifs or buts about that. We have a major job at hand. We have just come through the biggest global financial crisis since the Depression in the thirties. We on this side of the chamber are very disciplined because there is a task at hand—that is, to nation build and to deliver the best outcomes that we possibly can for Australian voters. It is not to display absolute disunity and disgust in our leader like those on that side over there do. We actually support our leader for doing a fantastic job, as we do our entire leadership team. Senator Mason touched on the November 2007 elections. The thoughts of those on the other side of the chamber were that somehow there was this political mistake made. I do not think it was a political mistake when the former Prime Minister actually lost his own seat of Bennelong. That says something in itself.

Senator Mason also wanted to talk about the National Broadband Network. He blamed us because computers have not been connected to the National Broadband Network. Let us take a step back here. In the 12 years of government of those on the other side, under Mr Howard, I do not recall any broadband networks being flagged and I do not recall any infrastructure spending on a broadband network. There was nothing—it was not even in the pipeline. Yet Senator Mason stands up in here and grandstands and lectures us about waiting for Senator Conroy and our National Broadband Network. That side of this chamber has voted against all our legislation. Let us not forget that those on that side over there voted against it, and yet they stand up in this chamber and slag us off for having a go—for wanting to deliver a national high-speed broadband network to 98 per cent of Australians. Those opposite will not even vote for it. I am not going to get emotive and carry on and scream like others on that side do in taking note. I am just gobsmacked at the hypocrisy of that side of this chamber at times, and those in the other place as well.

Let us talk about the national apology—that fantastic day. I had the absolute good fortune—and I am sure that a lot of senators and members on the other side of politics had the same heartfelt warmth that I did—to actually stand in the centre of this great building and watch for the first time ever a welcome to country ceremony, recognising the traditional owners on whose land we meet. It was a very rewarding day. It was moving to see the thousands of Indigenous Australians out there with tears in their eyes that they had actually been recognised and that the stolen generation was not something that we would turn our back on or put our head in the sand about and pretend did not exist. It did exist, sadly. The Prime Minister has done the right thing. I spend a lot of time in Aboriginal communities in Western Australia and the feeling in the Aboriginal community is still one of warmth and happiness when they talk about the national apology. It was also the start of closing the gap—and, my God, don’t we need to close that gap. To quote some words of the Leader of the Government in the Senate ‘over the years—and this is not being political—governments so far have not got it right’. We are determined that we will get it right.

We will also get it right on closing the gap in the Building the Education Revolution. I must go back for a minute to the 12 years of the Howard government. There were no great infrastructure projects—sorry, I take a step back: there was a railway line built from Adelaide to Darwin. I do remember that. It still has not made any money, but it was built. Apart from that, what were their great nation-building projects?

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was Alice Springs actually.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald, I will take that interjection, through you, Mr Deputy President. Senator Macdonald, you were a minister in that helpless government. Be very careful about wanting to have a crack, because you were the one who actually got taken out in that Christmas of 2006. I remember that.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle, please address your comments through the chair.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, Mr Deputy President, I will. Let us go back to the digital education revolution. I do remember the Prime Minister making it very clear that education was a very important platform for our election in 2007. As Senator Carr said, $2.2 billion is to be spent over six years. I will stand corrected in this place if anyone on that side of the chamber can highlight for me where the Howard government spent $2.2 billion on education—they did nothing for young Australians.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The facts always speak louder than the spin of Mr Rudd and his minions like Senator Sterle. Let me give you some facts. After 13 years of Labor government in the eighties and nineties, the coalition government took office. We found that the Australian public had been lied to about the state of the books. There was actually a $96 billion deficit run up by 13 years of Labor governments, most of which was kept secret from the Australian public. Over the next 10 very difficult years, the Howard government—a government in which, as Senator Sterle rightly said, I was a minister; and I am very proud of having been a minister in that government, which is something that Senator Sterle will never be able to be proud of having been—paid back the $96 billion. But, lo and behold, within two short years of the Labor Party again winning office, we have already a net government debt of $153 billion. Let us compare this to the state of the books when the coalition left office—not only did we have no net government debt but we actually had almost $45 billion in credit. We had $45 billion put aside for a rainy day. So it went from a $45 billion surplus to $153 billion of net government debt by 2013.

When we left office the coalition had a budget surplus of some $19.7 billion. I want to emphasise that. After two years of Mr Rudd and Labor mismanagement we now have a $57.7 billion deficit. We have gone from $20 billion plus to almost $60 billion minus. It just shows that you cannot trust Labor with money. I can understand why. I do not want to be personal about this but if you spend your life as a union organiser, bullying your fellow unionists, what chance have you got of running a business or a government? Absolutely none, and that shows in the fact that they cannot manage their money.

Under the coalition government do you know what we paid in annual interest on government debt at the end of that period? Not a cent in interest on government debt. Do you know what we are paying today? We pay $8.2 billion annual interest on government debt that could be better used to build hospitals, roads and look after Indigenous people’s welfare. It is $8.2 billion that could have gone to something special instead of being thrown away to mainly foreign money lenders.

Under the coalition government, when we left office, the net government debt per Australian person was zero. Do you what it is today? Every one of us in this chamber, everyone in the gallery and everyone who might be listening have a debt, racked up by Mr Rudd and his economic illiterates on the other side, of $6,375 per person. We are all in debt as a result of the incompetence and mismanagement of the Labor Party.

That is in a simple two-year period. Heaven knows what it is going to be by the time the election comes around in one year’s time. I certainly hope by that time that the Australian public will realise that their finances, their money, their economy has been mismanaged by Mr Rudd and, as I say, his economic illiterates on the other side.

Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the questions about the GP superclinics. Before our election we went to the electorate to establish 31 GP superclinics and that was with $275 million on the table. That number has recently been increased to 36 clinics. In September this year the official opening occurred for the first fully operational superclinic at Ballan. The clinic there is providing increased GP and dental services for the first time to the local community. A further five sites—Southern Lake Macquarie, Palmerston, Devonport, Blue Mountains and Warrnambool—have new and ready services that have been available and provided to the community. In one example in Palmerston, almost 9,000 patients have visited the clinic since it opened last December, with 92 per cent of those patients being treated at the clinic and helping to take pressure off the Royal Darwin Hospital.

In the electorate of Dickson, of which I am a duty senator, I have had firsthand exposure to seeing the construction of that particular clinic. In fact, I have met with the person that won the contract, Dr Evans, and he is working tirelessly with the local community, including the Indigenous population, to make sure they are understood and provided for when that clinic opens. The clinic is well in advance of the schedule. This folly about us not delivering on health, particularly GP superclinics, is just farcical.

The official launch of that particular clinic was reasonably well attended by the local Moreton Bay regional councillors, the Mayor of Moreton Bay region and me, but there was one person that was silent and could not even bother to turn up on the day. Who was that? It was none other than the member for Dickson, the shadow health minister, Peter Dutton. Where was he? Was he down at McPherson? Was he down at one of those electorates at the Gold Coast trying to win a preselection down there? Most likely he could have been down there but for some reason he did not have the decency to bother turning up for that official first stage of the Strathpine GP superclinic. However, he has recently come out on Lateline on 28 July and said:

… I think there is overwhelming support in the Australian public for significant change to take place so that we cannot repeat the same mistakes over the next decade that we’ve repeated over the last decade.

How is that from a shadow health minister, admitting that there were mistakes 10 years ago when they were in government, and coming out and saying on Lateline that they cannot afford to make the same mistakes over again.

These superclinics work through set criteria, which includes identifying high levels of need in addressing chronic disease, poor access to services, particularly GP shortages and Medicare services, poor health infrastructure and taking pressure off the local public hospital. These clinics are all about addressing health concerns in our regions and ensuring that we do not end up with the problems that we had in the past.

If you look in the past we had a government that neglected to train enough nurses and doctors. They allowed Australian nursing shortages to reach 6,000 nurses; 60 per cent of the country is affected by health workforce shortages. They cut funding for public hospitals by $1 billion and left 650,000 people languishing on public dental waiting lists, with many waiting years for care. They neglected aged care and some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. At times when they needed care the most, they were left in hospital beds every night because of the shortage of aged-care places. And what did we get? We only got the same rhetoric of the blame game for 12 years, and they played that blame game with the state governments and never came up with a long-term plan to improve our hospitals. Here are some key facts and figures on our proposals. (Time expired)

Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was great to hear from Senator Furner about what they have been doing, the clinics that have been promised and the clinics that are actually open, but I want to know what has happened to the clinics that have been promised and not yet opened. You promised 31 GP superclinics. You then promised 36 GP clinics. You might as well promise 336 GP clinics for all the ones that have actually been opened. When are we going to get the other 30 clinics that you promised two years ago to open? After two years in office it is time to be able to start to judge the performance, not just the rhetoric, of the Rudd Labor government, to start to say: ‘You put these promises on the table. You said you would do these things. Where do you stand today? What have you actually delivered?’ The situation is pretty grim, pretty unattractive.

In question time today we asked about the promise to fix the public hospitals of Australia. We asked about the delivery of the 31/36 GP superclinics. We asked about the end to the buck-passing which has characterised health care in this country. On all those issues we had nothing but stonewalling from the minister. I remind the government that hospitals are essentially a state and territory responsibility, but in the 2007 federal election campaign the Rudd Labor opposition, particularly Mr Rudd, acquired that issue by saying, ‘I will fix this problem.’ The question at this point is: what has he done?

The report of the AMA on the state of Australia’s public hospitals was published just a few weeks ago. Let’s see what it says about this:

Major metropolitan teaching hospitals commonly operate on a bed occupancy rate of 95 per cent or above. These rates are too high. Hospital overcrowding is the most serious cause of reduced patient safety in public hospitals.

Is that fixing a public hospital system, I ask you? The AMA goes on to say:

… public hospital infrastructure has been allowed to decay in many areas. Equipment, facilities and environment need updating, modernising and brought up to standard.

Is this fixing Australia’s public hospitals? I don’t think so. ‘The declining performance on emergency cases is unacceptable,’ says the AMA. Is that fixing our public hospitals? I don’t think so.

Let’s look at a more specific proposal put forward by the Rudd Labor government to ‘fix these problems’. In November 2008 the Council of Australian Governments entered a landmark deal for the national health care agreement, providing $64.4 billion over five years. At the time, the Prime Minister said:

Together with the investments the Government has already made in hospitals, this could support an additional 3,750 beds in 2009-10, growing to 7,800 additional beds by 2012-13.

What does the AMA say about that?

To date, there is no evidence to show that these new beds have been opened.

It is two years since these promises were made. Where are we seeing the delivery? We are seeing very little delivered in the way of GP superclinics. We are seeing an increase in private health insurance costs, even though the government promised not to touch that area. We are seeing changes to the extended Medicare safety net rebate after there was a promise made not to make any changes there.

The fact is that public hospitals are slipping backwards. It is obvious to every person in this place, I think, and indeed every health consumer around the country, that our public hospital systems are not being fixed. They are not getting better, as promised. They are going backwards. Mr Rudd and his government apparently have no answer to that question except to say: ‘We’re working on it. We’re spending money. Something is being done. Just leave it to us—we’ll get around to it in due course.’ The problem is that you promised to fix it by the middle of this year. You said: ‘I’ll fix the problem by the middle of 2009 or I’ll take the public hospitals over. I’ll have a referendum and I will deliver a federally controlled public hospital system.’ Neither of those things is happening. We are not seeing the hospitals fixed and we are not seeing a federal takeover. It is still a work in progress. Although citizens of this community might be prepared to give the federal government the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer, sooner or later you have got to actually put the goods on the table. You have to show that you are delivering something that improves our public hospital system, and the evidence to date is that you are not improving the public hospital system. In fact, things are going backwards. We are entitled to ask questions about that and get answers, and we are not getting answers today.

Question agreed to.