Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. I refer the Deputy Prime Minister to her answer to the question from the member for Grey. What advice has the minister received from her department that details how the Australian taxpayer will avoid the states and private contractors from profiteering from the so-called Building the Education Revolution?

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

I will answer the member’s question fairly simply. The Building the Education Revolution Guidelines are there for all to see. The administrative costs and the project costs are as I have described. Block grant authorities and schools are taking different approaches to tendering arrangements, which is what you would expect—

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. This is a specific question about what advice the minister had received—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Casey will resume his seat. The Deputy Prime Minister is responding to the question.

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

I was asked about the potential for ‘rip-offs’, as the member styled it, and I am answering that question. The guidelines are clear. The distribution to schools is clear under the Primary Schools for the 21st Century program, the National School Pride Program, that is correlated to school size. The science and language laboratory program is a competitive bid program. Different schools are under different systems, obviously—block grant authorities, states and territories taking a different approach to tendering arrangements—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Casey will resume his seat. The Deputy Prime Minister is responding to the question.

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

Some schools are tendering locally. Some block grant authorities and states are tendering through more centralised arrangements. We will obviously be working with them—

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. The question was about advice not guidelines—what advice the minister has received—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Casey will resume his seat. I am listening to the Deputy Prime Minister. The Deputy Prime Minister is responding to the question.

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

Obviously, in making tendering arrangements, we will be working with states and territories to help them get value for money.

Can I say that we need to remember that the context in which this is occurring is a global financial crisis. We know that the construction industry is being severely impacted by that global financial crisis. Consequently, because of that economic impact, in communities right around the country there is spare construction capacity, and without this economic stimulus the people working in those construction companies would become unemployed. I know that the member who asked the question and the member who is vying for him to be shadow minister for education might be unconcerned about that, because they voted against this program, but this government is concerned with delivering economic stimulus around the country, value-for-money projects that will make a difference to education infrastructure in this country through the biggest school modernisation program the country has ever seen, and support for jobs.