❓ Opposition MP requests detailed breakdown of student assistance payments by school, which the Minister for Education refuses, citing the MP's prior opposition to the scheme and implying a lack of genuine interest.
AnsweredQoN 375Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STUDENT ASSISTANCE
PAYMENT — INFORMATION RELEASE
375. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Education:
The minister's Department of
Education has refused to release a breakdown of student payment information to anyone but Labor government members of Parliament
despite this government's claim of gold-standard transparency.
(1) Given the
minister's agency's refusal to provide this information, will
the minister do the right thing in the interest of gold-standard transparency
and publicly release a breakdown of the number of eligible students and those
paid out by school?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
PAYMENT — INFORMATION RELEASE
375. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Education:
The minister's Department of
Education has refused to release a breakdown of student payment information to anyone but Labor government members of Parliament
despite this government's claim of gold-standard transparency.
(1) Given the
minister's agency's refusal to provide this information, will
the minister do the right thing in the interest of gold-standard transparency
and publicly release a breakdown of the number of eligible students and those
paid out by school?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
can let the member know that as of 9 June 2024, just under $65 million has been
processed for payment to families in Western Australia. This is a policy that
the member opposed. Out of that, 194 393 were primary
and kindergarten students and just over 142 000 were secondary students. We
will not be releasing the information
to the member because he opposed it. He will not go out and support it. I was
at a conference on the weekend with the Leader of the Liberal Party. It
was a Catholic Parents' Association conference, and one of the paid
employees came up to me and said, ''Thank you very much. That was
something that we really needed.'' But if she had come to listen to what
the member has been saying about this scheme, she would have thought she was on
a different planet. The member opposed it, so why is he interested in the
statistics?
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please!
Dr A.D. BUTI : We have given
the information to our members because they are out there advocating for it. I have
just told the member that $65 million has been paid out.
can let the member know that as of 9 June 2024, just under $65 million has been
processed for payment to families in Western Australia. This is a policy that
the member opposed. Out of that, 194 393 were primary
and kindergarten students and just over 142 000 were secondary students. We
will not be releasing the information
to the member because he opposed it. He will not go out and support it. I was
at a conference on the weekend with the Leader of the Liberal Party. It
was a Catholic Parents' Association conference, and one of the paid
employees came up to me and said, ''Thank you very much. That was
something that we really needed.'' But if she had come to listen to what
the member has been saying about this scheme, she would have thought she was on
a different planet. The member opposed it, so why is he interested in the
statistics?
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please!
Dr A.D. BUTI : We have given
the information to our members because they are out there advocating for it. I have
just told the member that $65 million has been paid out.
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