Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

On the question from the shadow minister, I will check the facts, because the shadow minister’s work rate would not lead you to believe that his research is likely to be right. He did say when he held the photograph up that he had simply obtained it from the internet. So, firstly, I will check the facts. Secondly, I would say to the shadow minister opposite: is he suggesting that small schools in this country should not get federal government support? If he is suggesting that, then I will be very happy to convey that message on his behalf to every small school in this country. Of course, it would be a subset of a broader message, which would be that the Liberal Party has got no policies on education and does not support ‘a’ school building or ‘a’ school refurbishment under the Building the Education Revolution program, because they voted against it for all schools.

On the question of allocations, allocations are correlated with school size; that is true. We also have flexibility in the BER guidelines to work with states and territories and block grant authorities in the independent and Catholic school systems on allocations for schools if the schools believe that a reallocation is necessary to best meet student needs. I see the shadow minister is laughing at that, but I have got a lot of respect for the people who run the block grant authority in the Catholic education system—the various Catholic education officers around the country. I am prepared to take their advice; he may not be. I am prepared to take advice from the block grant authorities that run independent schools around the country. They run many fine schools and I am prepared to take their advice. I am also prepared to take advice from states and territories about school systems around the country.

Here we have once again a Liberal Party with no policies, plans or perspectives on education and with a decade of failure which we are now addressing—a Liberal Party that came into this parliament and voted against the biggest school modernisation program in this nation’s history—and all they can do on education is come in and carp and moan, because they are incapable of a positive vision. The Australian people deserve better. They deserve a debate on education. Australians around this country are debating education. The entity left out of that debate is the Liberal Party. It comes down to the lack of judgment of the Leader of the Opposition in putting someone so incompetent and lazy in the shadow portfolio.

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