Education Minister doesnt know the details
14 Jun 2009
Media release The Rudd Government's schools stimulus debacle continues to career out of control with the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, sidestepping questions and showing a lack of knowledge about her portfolio, according to Christopher Pyne, Shadow Education Minister.
In Question Time Ms Gillard was asked a series of questions about the schools stimulus spend.
"What was revealed is how out of touch the Minister is with the concerns of school principals at the chalk face," Mr Pyne said.
"Hastings Public School has received a grant of $3 million of which $400,000 was to be used for a Covered Outdoor Learning Area. However the school had purchased a Covered Outdoor Learning Centre in 2003 for $40,000. In six years the cost of the COLA has exploded ten-fold," he said.
In response Ms Gillard suggested that I had confused two schools in two different states both named Hastings.
Considering the Hastings Public School Principal, Mr Grant Heaton, raised the matter with me in the first place, I suspect the part-time education Minister might need to pay more attention to detail.
Ms Gillard also denied that the Gepps Cross School, slated to close next year, was spending funds on a toilet block, even though the Principal, Mr Peter Hill, had confirmed that this was the case just last week.
"If Ms Gillard's confused answer in Question Time means that she is now forcing the South Australian State Government to pay these costs as a fig leaf to hide her embarrassment, she should have admitted it,"Mr Pyne said.
In another extraordinary explanation, Ms Gillard conceded that money from the stimulus package could be spent on air-conditioning where new buildings were being constructed, but not added to or upgraded on existing buildings, which is a ludicrous proposition.
"If there was anyone doubting whether Ms Gillard has too much on her plate to effectively act in the education portfolio, today's performance is the evidence. The Australian Education system deserves the attention of a full-time Education Minister," he said.
June 15, 2009