❓ Mr. Day questions the Minister for Education and Training about funding shortfalls in school maintenance and vocational education, linking them to the Southern Rail Link's cost overruns. The Minister acknowledges the maintenance backlog but defends the government's overall education spending.
AnsweredQoN 290Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the minister to the Treasurer’s claim during his budget speech that funding makes the difference in delivering education services in Western Australia. (1) Will the minister confirm that, as he admitted in the estimates committee discussions on 20 May, this Government has not provided enough funding to address the growing backlog of school maintenance in Western Australian schools, which is now at a level of $73 million? (2) Is the minister also aware that his Government has cut funding to vocational education and training programs despite committing to expand them? (3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(1) Will the minister confirm that, as he admitted in the estimates committee discussions on 20 May, this Government has not provided enough funding to address the growing backlog of school maintenance in Western Australian schools, which is now at a level of $73 million? (2) Is the minister also aware that his Government has cut funding to vocational education and training programs despite committing to expand them? (3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(2) Is the minister also aware that his Government has cut funding to vocational education and training programs despite committing to expand them? (3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(1) Will the minister confirm that, as he admitted in the estimates committee discussions on 20 May, this Government has not provided enough funding to address the growing backlog of school maintenance in Western Australian schools, which is now at a level of $73 million? (2) Is the minister also aware that his Government has cut funding to vocational education and training programs despite committing to expand them? (3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(2) Is the minister also aware that his Government has cut funding to vocational education and training programs despite committing to expand them? (3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(3) Will the minister now concede that Western Australia’s education sector is being drained of funding by the massively expensive southern rail link, which has now blown out by $400 million, the equivalent of 80 new primary schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. (1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
(1)-(3) I had some interest - I would not say trepidation - in seeing how the new line-up would perform today. It is like mixing up the monkeys in the barrel; they can be mixed up but we still get the same performance - absolutely hopeless! The catchy little theme about the $400 million blow-out in expenditure on the rail line got boring after the second question. It is really ridiculous now. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is the answer to the member’s third question. He should not be foolish; he should rise above that ridiculous tactic that the new intellectual geniuses in his team have put together in their little strategy group. My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
My immediate answer to the member’s second question, if I recall it correctly, is no. Can the member repeat the second question? Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr J.H.D. Day: Why has funding for vocational education and training been reduced? It has actually been reduced by $300 000. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Darling Range has asked me that in question time in this Chamber before. He has had an answer. He also asked that question in the estimates committee. He got a very full run down of that expenditure item. In schools, the expenditure on vocational education and training has gone up significantly - I have not got the figures off the top of my head. In the training sector we have an arrangement with the federal Government in which we must deliver a certain number of hours. We are hampered by the federal Government’s refusal to increase funding in that area. We have delivered about 240 million student contact hours. The member has the answer to that question; it was provided by me and by departmental people in the estimates committee. The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
The member asked about school maintenance, which is a good issue. It is my view and it is a fact that we are not spending enough on school maintenance to get rid of the maintenance backlog. Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr J.H.D. Day: Too much is being spent on the rail line and not enough is going into schools. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: On a superficial level, the member is talking about a capital budget allocation for the rail line; he is talking about recurrent expenditure for maintenance anyway. When I was the opposition spokesperson for education, we gave a commitment to increase the expenditure on maintenance by $10 million in our term of Government. I think I said during the estimates committee that so far we have increased the figure by $26 million. However, we still have more to do because the amount of unplanned maintenance continues to grow. The amount of money left over for planned maintenance is not enough; we are not keeping up with that so we have had to put more money in. We have had discussions along those lines. This is a live issue in the budgeting area for schools, which we need to address. I will just say one thing: this side of politics has done a lot better in education and training than opposition members did when they were in government.
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