Last chance to suspend the spend
01 Aug 2010
Media release Education Minister, Simon Crean, only has a few hours before his chance to stop the waste in the school hall program by suspending the spend is gone forever, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.
"$2.1 billion of the remaining $5.5 billion is due to go out the door today, and the new Minister is unable to guarantee that taxpayer dollars will not be wasted," Mr Pyne said.
Desperate to try and protect the reputation of Julia Gillard, Simon Crean has become the Sergeant Schultz of Australian politics - Mr Crean claims to hear nothing, see nothing and know nothing.
Sadly for the Minister, he will be as complicit in this scandalous waste as his predecessor after that money goes out the door.
Australians cannot trust a Labor Government that establishes a taskforce to investigate waste, but continues to spend billions before the investigation reports.
It is Mr Crean's duty to properly administer taxpayer funds. If he cannot guarantee that money will not be wasted, then he must suspend the spend until he can.
"If elected, the Coalition will launch a full judicial inquiry into the school hall rip-off, to discover the truth about how much has been wasted and who is responsible," Mr Pyne said.
July 1, 2010
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Adam Howard
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