Gillard admits failure in School Hall rip-off

Hot on the heels of the home insulation debacle the Labor Government has announced a new taskforce to investigate the School Hall rip-offs which doesn't satisfy the calls for a full Judicial Inquiry, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

"It is an election year fix in an attempt to address the growing public outrage over the Minister's handling of this program," Mr Pyne said.

"It is also an admission by the Minister that after 15 months her program is plagued with systemic problems that need investigation," he said.

"In classic Labor Government style the taskforce is straight out of the 'Hollowmen' - costing $15 million, representing a new level bureaucracy and reporting directly to the Minister with no more independence than her own Department.

It will not have the power to summon witnesses or subpoena documents. It will also not give a full public report until after the federal election in six months time.

With all three rounds of the spending and every cent of this money allocated, Ms Gillard is trying to slam the door after the horse has bolted.

The Coalition has called on the Government to initiate a full public Judicial Inquiry, with powers to investigate these matters openly and transparently. There are very serious allegations of collusion, price fixing, rorting, systemic waste and mismanagement and they deserve a Judicial Inquiry.

The Minister has no interest in transparency or accountability, instead cynically trying to find a political fix for a growing disaster during an election year.

"This is yet another program that Ms Gillard has failed to deliver. In addition to the current teacher boycott of the NAPLAN, the bungled Computers in Schools program, the under-performing Trades Training Centre program, and now a new taskforce in investigate rorts in a program the Minister designed." Mr Pyne said.

April 12, 2010

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