ANAO agrees to Coalition call for BER audit
12 Jul 2009
Media release Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education, today welcomed the news that the Auditor-General will begin a preliminary audit into the schools stimulus debacle.
""I wrote to the Auditor-General two weeks ago requesting an audit of the Building the Education Revolution program as recent revelations surrounding the spending has revealed examples of waste and mismanagement.
"The taxpayer deserves full transparency and I hope the Auditor-General will conduct a full audit after this initial inquiry in July." Mr Pyne said.
Coalition MPs and Senators have been inundated with complaints and concerns from principals, school councils and parents nationwide about this program.
The list of problems grows daily:
Hundreds of schools are being forced to accept "McSchool Hall" style demountables off the back of a truck, irrespective of what their local communities want.
Schools in some jurisdictions who wished to build new classrooms have been told that they have to build a stock-standard school hall - even when they already have one.
Many schools are not being allowed to use local builders, instead being forced to use contractors from hundreds of kilometres away, or even interstate, costing more.
In South Australia and Tasmania, it has been revealed that schools due to be knocked down at the end of the year are receiving millions for refurbishment this year.
State Governments and State Government-approved contractors are raking in millions of dollars as costs to schools for their buildings are spiralling out of control.
Distance education and multi-campus schools are missing out on funding while the most exclusive schools in Australia are receiving millions, and more than $3 million is being spent on the plaques to commemorate Julia Gillard's largesse. (We are yet to see the final bill for the 9000 ceremonies Julia Gillard has demanded to be invited to, including the costs of her travel.)
Schools wishing to spend funds on energy-efficient air conditioning have been refused.
"The Coalition is intent on ensuring that funds, borrowed on the taxpayer's credit card, are not wasted or mismanaged and schools receive value for money," Mr Pyne said.
June 28, 2009