The waste must stop

"I welcome the new Minister for Education, Simon Crean, and insist that he immediately halt the spending of $2.1 billion in the school hall rip-off due to be allocated this Thursday," Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

"The former Minister, Julia Gillard, established a taskforce to investigate value for money issues after months of refusing to admit that widespread problems existed, but Ms Gillard hasn't stopped the spending while the investigation is underway," Mr Pyne said.

"Ms Gillard was content to allow the waste, mismanagement, price gouging and rorting to continue, now the question for Simon Crean is whether he has the same disregard for taxpayer's money," he said.

Media reports have shown that complaints from NSW principals presented to taskforce head Brad Orgill will be slung on the scrap heap because Mr Orgill cannot guarantee the anonymity of sources.

"Principals fearing retribution now know that they cannot raise concerns with any confidence they won't be named, completely undermining the ability of the taskforce to conduct a proper investigation," Mr Pyne said.

"There is zero chance of this new Minister having the freedom to rein in the spending, with Julia Gillard in charge. Under her administration blow-outs, bungles and backflips have become commonplace in the education portfolio," he said.

With the likelihood of an election being called in a couple of weeks, it is unclear whether Mr Orgill's report will even be made publicly available during the campaign, and who will act on any recommendations in caretaker mode.

"Only a Coalition Government is committed to getting to the bottom of this fiasco. We will hold a full Judicial Inquiry and reallocate funding directly to schools and governing councils to manage," Mr Pyne said.

June 28, 2010

MEDIA CONTACT:

Adam Howard

0400 414 833