REMEMBER WHEN

Saturday, August 7, 2010

JULIA Gillard was unrepentant about her government Building the Education Revolution plan, despite a finding it inflated building costs by up to 12 per cent.

As education minister, Ms Gillard started the stimulus measure to keep the economy moving during the global financial downturn.

But reports of wastage and rorts in the scheme’s $14.1 billion Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) portion meant a taskforce led by banker Brad

Orgill was set up to investigate its operation.

His interim report was released, finding the buildings costs had been inflated by the urgency of P21.

But the Prime Minister was unapologetic about the program, saying she would do it again.

“In any project there is a tradeoff between time and cost and quality,” she said.

“I made a judgment about saving the country from recession by investing in schools. I stand by that judgment and I would make it again today.”

If the Government had paid a premium for urgent work, it was worth it, said Ms Gillard.

”Doing it quickly obviously is pivotal to keeping your country out of recession,” she said.

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the report was an indictment on Ms Gillard’s ability.

“Julia Gillard is not fit to be a minister, let alone the prime minister,” Mr Abbott said. “If you can’t manage a school hall program ... you can’t be trusted to manage a $1.1 trillion economy.”

The report recommended the start of cost modelling to allow the taskforce to compare costs between government and nongovernment schools, states and territories and delivery modes.