Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite have on this question. I do not think I am stretching the truth when I say that they have interjected in a partisan fashion. Were this to be such an enduring commitment on the part of those opposite, I would assume it would have been put permanently into the forward estimates beyond a simple three-year allocation, which is what occurred. I simply say to those opposite that, if the depth of their commitment was to be reflected in their forward planning and what they were going to put into place in the past, I would have thought it would have endured into the future as a permanent set of funding arrangements. Of course, let us never ask the question of consistency when it comes to those opposite on any matter of policy, whether it is asylum seekers, whether it is climate change, whether it is the stimulus strategy, whether it is borrowing to keep the economy afloat or whether it is any other policy.

On school chaplaincies, we believe they are doing a fantastic job. The minister has said repeatedly that we will conclude our proper review of these services and, as I have said in this House before, I believe chaplaincies have a strong future in Australia. I have been personally associated with their operation in Queensland in the past, going back to the early 90s. I am proud of that association.

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