Clevesclassrooms cleaved in half
04 Jun 2009
Media release The Cleve Area School's dream of eight new classrooms under the Rudd Government's stimulus package have been dashed by rapidly inflating quotes and bureaucratic mismanagement, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education and Rowan Ramsey, Federal Member for Grey said today.
A source at the school courageously contacted Mr Ramsey to advise him of the situation, despite the potential for repercussions outlined in the guidelines.
Having received a grant for $2 million, the school was advised by the Department of Education in South Australia that they could not afford the eight classroom building they planned for, similar to a building at another school which cost $1.85 million in 2005.
Instead the school was initially told a six classroom model was the only option. A week later it was told a four classroom option was all that $2 million could buy. The following day they were told that that was no longer feasible either.
According to a source on the school's governing council they're now slated to receive ""a collection of transportable classrooms with decking."
"The prices quoted in delivering this project are inflating at a rate somewhere between the CPI in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe," he said.
"Julia Gillard's response to the Opposition in Question Time today was to read the BER guidelines. These are same guidelines that grandly state the Building the Education funding is for the construction of "iconic" buildings in every school," Mr Pyne said.
"This is not an isolated example. If you want to implement massive construction across the nation then anyone with an eye on the policy detail would have realised that there would be inflationary pressures on construction," he said.
"Sadly the Deputy Prime Minister always seems to have too much on her plate to pay attention to the details. Australia deserves better than a part-time Education Minister," Mr Pyne said.