Full ANAO investigation into the Schools Stimulus
24 Jul 2009
Media release In a humiliating development for Education Minister Julia Gillard, Auditor General Ian McPhee has today announced that he will be conducting a full investigation into the 'Building the Education Revolution' schools stimulus debacle, as called for by Shadow Education Minister Christopher Pyne.
"This afternoon the Auditor General has vindicated the Opposition's calls for a review of the schools stimulus debacle, by announcing a full performance audit under Section 15 of the Auditor-General Act 1997," said Mr Pyne.
"It is a shame that it has had to come to this. The Opposition has been arguing for months that funds, borrowed on the taxpayer's credit card, must not be wasted or mismanaged and that schools deserve to receive value for money.
"We suggested that decisions about expenditure on school facilities should be made by local schools, not by bureaucrats in Canberra and State Capitals.
"This once-in-a-generation opportunity for Australian schools to build new facilities has been wasted as a result of Labor's mismanagement. We hope that the Auditor-General's intervention will ensure that these grants can now be spent more wisely.
"Taxpayers deserve value for money for their massive expenditure. Our school communities deserve the best facilities that money can buy - not McSchool halls built in Western Sydney and delivered off the back of a truck.
"For months Coalition MPs and Senators have been inundated with complaints and concerns from principals, school councils and parents nationwide about this program.
Some of the issues that will come under the Auditor General's investigation will include:
- Hundreds of schools being forced to accept "McSchool Hall" style demountables off the back of a truck, irrespective of what their local communities want.
- 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.
- 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.
"We look forward to the Auditor-General's full investigation, and I hope that the Department will cooperate fully and transparently with his audit.
"In the mean time, the fact that he has had to come in to fix up this mess confirms what we have known all along: Australia deserves better than a part time Education Minister."