Page 1190 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 30 May 2007
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MR BARR: No. The point is that we have not, Mr Stefaniak. Four of the last five years saw a larger move from government to non-government than what we saw between 2006 and 2007. Yes, it was more than the year before but it was not more than those other years and it was in line with the long-run average. If you were to take a long-run statistical look at this, you would see that it had no significant impact.
What we need is a four-year investment program in public education. We need new school facilities. We are building four new schools to meet the demands of students in this territory. Mrs Dunne, we are investing more money than any other government ever has in public education. We are doing it against a tide of a commonwealth government that walks away year after year from its obligation to education. It does it all the time.
Mr Stefaniak: Oh, rubbish!
MR BARR: This government will pick up the slack, as we have, budget after budget, year after year—
Mrs Dunne: And the more money you spend, the more money you are wasting.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Barr, resume your seat. Members of the opposition will come to order.
MR BARR: Mr Speaker, as I was saying, this government will pick up the slack, as we have year after year, budget after budget, and invest more money in education in this city. There are four new schools: Harrison in 2008; West Belconnen in 2009; the college in Gungahlin in 2010; and a $54 million new facility in Kambah in 2011. This amounts to $90 million in additional capital works over the next four years on top of the normal $11½ million program. I am talking about capital upgrades, new facilities for our schools, new gymnasiums, new dedicated specialist teaching and learning facilities, science labs, arts rooms.
This government is delivering the most significant investment in public education in the history of self-government. It is a four-year program. It was always the case that it was going to take a number of years to address what has been a decade-long drift away from government schools. What we are seeking to do is ensure that every public school in the ACT is upgraded and that every public school in the ACT has world-class facilities. We are doing it in terms of new facilities. We are rolling out information technology in our schools, involving $20 million over the next four years—the most significant investment in technology in our schools that we have ever seen. The ACT will lead Australia and the world in the provision of information communication technology.
At the conclusion of this investment package, the largest ever in the history of self-government, all ACT schools will have broadband internet, a bandwidth unseen in Australia, wireless networks—a whole range of new information communication technology investment in our schools. It is the most significant investment package in the history of self-government. Those opposite hate it. Mrs Dunne has described it as throwing good money after bad.
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