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, Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. I refer the minister to her answer yesterday in which she failed to address the case of the Evesham State School, in the Labor electorate of Flynn, which last week received a grant for $250,000 to build a new library for its one enrolled student. With the benefit of 24 hours notice, has the minister now uncovered the elusive cost-benefit analysis which justified this wasteful spending or does she, like the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, stand proudly behind that decision?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The question is once again out of order because it contains argument.

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

Again I would indicate to the Leader of the House that, if there is argument in the question, it is at the minor end of the scale compared to the traditional allowances made by myself and my predecessors.

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

I thank the shadow minister for his question. I enjoyed his questions yesterday and I am going to enjoy them today, I can see as well. I am still waiting for his much promised ferocious attack but we live in hope. On the question of Evesham State School, let me inform the member of this: he may not be aware of it but the Evesham State School at this stage is in community consultation about an amalgamation process.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! The Manager of Opposition Business having asked the question, I would have thought that members on my left would be willing to listen to the answer.

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

This consultation process has been in train for some time.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I take from the guffawing that the Liberal Party stands for the unilateral closure of schools without any consultation with anyone. If that is the policy of the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition, I will make sure that all 9,500 schools in this country know that. But most responsible education authorities actually engage in consultation and work when they are coming up with new school structures and the Building the Education Revolution guidelines dealt with this process.

We have had media reports and we have had members of the opposition on earlier parliamentary days race into this parliament and make claims about Building the Education Revolution money going to closing schools. This matter was always dealt with by the Building the Education Revolution guidelines and what the guidelines have provided is crystal clear, which is that in circumstances where schools are amalgamating the money goes to the continuing school site in order to provide facilities for the students who go to that school. That is obviously an appropriate process to go through when schools are amalgamating. I take it from the guffawing that the members opposite are saying that, firstly, there should be no consultation and, secondly, there should be no benefits to schools that are amalgamating and receiving students from other schools.

I think it does bear reflecting on that the Building the Education Revolution program is about school modernisation, the biggest school modernisation program this country has ever seen, but it is also about supporting jobs today during the difficult days of the global recession, and members opposite day after day, including in their questioning today, show how out of touch they are on the question of the global recession and its impact on Australian jobs. As recently as yesterday the shadow minister for education said on Radio National about our economic stimulus measures and our measures for school building about construction work:

There wouldn’t be enough workers. There wouldn’t be enough resources to fulfil those contracts as quickly as the government demand it.

The shadow minister obviously lives in a world where he thinks in these days of the global recession that every Australian who wants a job has a job and that every Australian is already working the overtime they would want to be working and that there is no spare capacity. He lives in a world of denial, believing that the global recession has not commenced and is not impacting on our economy. But the truth is—and the Prime Minister referred to this a little bit earlier—it is impacting on our economy, and the recent AiG survey of construction works showed that employment in construction declined 17 months in a row. When you are seeing construction work decline 17 months in a row, when you are seeing construction workers who are being laid off and who are not able to find work, then obviously they are the people whose jobs the Building the Education Revolution will give support to.

Can I conclude my answer to the shadow minister’s question by referring him to an article in the Australian newspaper on 1 September where builder Wayne Cash, who was working on one of the Building the Education Revolution projects, said:

... the first six months of the year were very quiet, and the company was forced to let two or three staff members go but managed to keep their apprentices and junior staff members.

Mr Cash is now not only hiring subcontractors but also putting on extra staff, including another apprentice, a labourer and an office junior, and perhaps at some point the shadow minister might want to reflect on whether he thinks those Australian should be in work.

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

Mr Pyne interjecting

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

Order! The member for Sturt will withdraw.

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

I withdraw, Mr Speaker.