Transcript - Doorstop - 31 March 2010
31 Mar 2010
Transcipt SUBJECTS: Swan's claim of rorting in the BER; Similarities to insulation program
Christopher Pyne:
Wayne Swan belled the cat last night on radio 2UE when he pointed out that there was rorting of the BER Schools rip-off program. For months and months and months the Opposition has been pointing out waste, mismanagement, gouging, state skimming by state governments and Julia Gillard has turned a blind eye and said in a blissfully ignorant way that she doesn't know what the Opposition is on about. Wayne Swan was at least honest enough last night to admit there was rorting in the BER program.
What the Opposition is saying is this should be investigated and the rorts need to stop. What needs to happen is that Julia Gillard should insist that all the states put their BER costings on their websites so the public can see what is going on in every school. That is already happening in New South Wales, which is why most of the examples we're seeing are coming out of NSW, but the problem of gouging by business, skimming by state governments and waste would not simply be happening in New South Wales, it would be Australia wide.
By not putting that information on the web, Julia Gillard is essentially partaking in a cover-up of waste and mismanagement of billions of dollars. Wayne Swan has belled the cat, it is time for Julia Gillard to come clean on the costings of each BER project. If it's good enough for school results to be placed on the Myschools website, if it's good enough for teachers results to be made available for everyone, why isn't it good enough for the costings of each BER project to be placed on the web for all to see.
Journalist:
There are so many projects underway Australia wide, is it likely there would be a high proportion of rorting?
Pyne:
It is very likely that taxpayers are getting maybe two thirds value for their $16.2 billion of spending. Most taxpayers would say it is good to have new school halls or libraries or resource centres, but they would certainly want value for money.
Julia Gillard is acting like the person who owns a wedding reception centre and charges $100,000 to the bride's father, and when they turn around and say we only got $25,000 worth of value says, well, you had a good time, what are you complaining about? Taxpayers expect governments to manage their money successfully; they don't expect them to simply wipe away waste and mismanagement. Wayne Swan has made it clear that there is rorting of the BER going on, it's time for Julia Gillard to admit the same and get on and fix the problems.
Journalist:
Do you think most contractors would be doing the right thing though, and this is the minority?
Pyne:
My view is that there is widespread rorting of the BER program, by business and by Government because business is completely overwhelmed by the demand that is being pushed out into the system.
The defence of the Government has all the hallmarks of the defence of the home insulation scandal. The Government keeps saying - Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan keep saying that there is only 0.73 per cent of complaints in proportion to the program. With the home insulation scheme, Peter Garrett used to say that it only had 0.5 per cent of complaints in relation to the amount of projects they were pushing out into the system. This has eerie parallels to the home insulation scandal, and we don't want it to end the same way.
It's time for Julia Gillard to accept there is rorting in the BER schools rip-off, she should listen to what her colleague Wayne Swan has said, the Treasurer no less, and to take action.