Damning BER Senate report exposes Government cover
05 Apr 2011
Media release A damning Senate report into the School Hall program was released by the Gillard Government close to midnight last night to avoid scrutiny, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.
"The report finds that the Government's taskforce investigating waste in the BER has misinterpreted the data, presenting the BER in a favourable light for the Government," Mr Pyne said.
"By basing the investigation on public complaints and allowing their definition of value for money to include a premium on top of construction costs for speed of delivery, means the Australian public has not got a true picture of the enormous waste in the BER," he said.
To include a premium for speed of delivery is a joke, as even today the BER remains months and in some cases, years behind schedule.
The Senate Inquiry also found that there was no evidence to support the overall stimulus effect of the BER when weighted against a contracting residential construction market.
This is clearly an attempted cover-up by a Government already under siege over its bungles and back-flips.
The further evidence of this is the Government's refusal to make public all the contract information for all BER projects.
The Senate Inquiry has recommended that all contracts be made available, as has the Orgill Taskforce, the Australian Senate, and Julia Gillard herself, who solemnly promised to do so during the 2010 Election.
"I have previously called on the Government to release BER costings on the My School website so people can easily see whether value for money has been achieved. To not do so, in light of this Senate report, is a slap in the face of every Australian taxpayer," Mr Pyne said.
March 26, 2011
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Adam Howard
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