Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, just wait for it. The principals I have spoken to think this spending is wonderful and could not have come at a better time. If you are going to stimulate the economy and help tradespeople, contractors and small business people then what better way to do it than to spend on schools? You talk about the states’ record, Senator Fierravanti-Wells. Let us talk about the federal government’s record and how education funding was cut by five per cent under the Liberal Party, the previous government, and how in education standards we went to 28th out of 30 in the OECD, all under the Liberal Party. That is in education.

I cannot wait for tonight. I cannot wait to see the Leader of the Opposition get up and rule out funding to schools just when it is needed. This is what the modern-day Liberal and National parties stand for. They are out of touch. They are completely and utterly out of touch. The Rudd government has a strategy to deal with the global recession. When the global economy is crashing and business is fleeing from financial markets, governments must act. That is the economically responsible thing to do. That is what economic conservatives do. I know that Liberal senators will not believe me, but they should listen to the financial institutions, the financial experts, the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank. The economic commentators all agree that governments must step in, act early and stimulate the economy—and that is what we have been doing.

Stage 1 was the first stimulus package, which was in October and November last year.