Door Stop - Adelaide

SUBJECTS: BER Orgill Taskforce Report

Christopher Pyne: The Orgill Taskforce Report today is a disastrous report for the Government.  It’s a damming report.  They investigated only complaints that they had received; formal complaints, but those complaints show that public schools in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland were ripped off blind by hopeless administration of a $16 billion program.  Julia Gillard was the Minister responsible and if she couldn’t deliver a school hall program, it beggars belief that she’ll be able to deliver a carbon tax on Sunday.  

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: In South Australia and Western Australia the scheme seems to have been handled much better.  There’s no doubt that in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland $1.5 billion of taxpayers money has been wasted.  The report found that even if they generously said that New South Wales got the program out quickly and added a premium to that, that still $1.5 billion was up against the wall in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.  It shows that on average New South Wales public schools paid 60 per cent more for their school buildings than Catholic and Independent schools. 

In South Australia and Western Australia it has been better where there was much more local control.  And even though the Opposition kept calling for more local control and for decisions to be made at the school level Julia Gillard has refused to listen to the Opposition and the outcome of that has been at least $1.5 billion wasted. 

Journalist: Because you called for principals to be involved; they were in fact in Western Australia, does that vindicate your calls in that area?

Pyne: Western Australia has had the best outcome.  Western Australia is the most decentralised state in terms of schooling and public schools.  Western Australia allowed schools to make their own decisions about what they wanted and that does vindicate the Coalition’s calls all along for principals and governing councils should have been much more involved in the decisions being made.  Julia Gillard ignored that.  This Sunday she’ll be announcing a carbon tax.  This Sunday she’ll be asking the public to take her on her word that she’s going to deliver a carbon tax in a completely successful hitch free way when she couldn’t deliver a school hall program. 

Journalist: (inaudible)

Pyne: Well, the irony of Brad Orgill’s report today is that he criticises Julia Gillard for establishing a program which didn’t make the most of $16 billion which could have been spent to ensure that schools had energy efficient buildings.  There are examples of schools that wanted to upgrade their air conditioning so that they had better energy efficient air conditioning and they were told they weren’t allowed to do that by the department.  Julia Gillard oversaw this program.  She oversaw a program which while she’s announcing a carbon tax to make our country more energy efficient she’s spent $16 billion doing no such thing for the last three years. 

Journalist: But wasn’t (inaudible) the failure of state Labor governments in New South Wales and Victoria rather than the Federal Government that put up the money?

Pyne: It’s $16 billion of Australian taxpayer’s money.  Julia Gillard was the Minister for Education.  It’s not good enough for her to wash her hands and say that this was somehow somebody else’s fault.  And if that’s the excuse she’s going to use, does that mean if the carbon tax massively increases people’s cost of living, forces up prices and closes down coal and steel industries that somehow that will be somebody else’s fault?  She’s now the Prime Minister and I think a lot of Australian’s will be asking themselves the question if she couldn’t deliver a school hall program, how will she deliver a carbon tax? 

Journalist: The recommendation for a national air conditioning program, do you think it’s a good recommendation? 

Pyne: I think anything that improves the energy efficiency of schools is a good idea and how that is delivered is really a matter for future programs that the commonwealth and the states will deliver.  I think it’s a good recommendation and as long as it can be delivered efficiently then it should be. 

Journalist: And they uncovered problems with building quality in the building industry.  Should we be looking at a review of the construction industry? 

Pyne: Look, I think we’ve probably go enough reviews going on in Australia right now.  I think the Australian public would rather have a government that made decisions rather than always put off decisions to other people, always put off reviews to other people.  Certainly there should be lessons learnt from every program the lesson learnt from Building the Education Revolution debacle is don’t let Julia Gillard run any programs. 

ENDS