Kevin Rudd stimulates closing schools.

Cartoon: By Bill Leak.

Kevvy just can’t seem to get anything right, but he is from the left so that has to be expected. Since the glory days of Kevin07, he has presided over arguably the most incompetent government in living memory. With such memorable failures as Grocery/fuel watch nonevent, the $890,000/house remote area housing scheme disaster, the home insulation fiasco, the ETS debacle, a couple of cash splashes, the … but hey, who’s counting?

The Building the Education Revolution, (BER) scheme, which has been unkindly referred to as the Builders Early Retirement scheme, has been a constant embarrassment of inflated prices for school buildings, especially when compared to those in private schools. A recent press report featured a 25 square meter state school building for the same price as a Catholic schools 240 square meter building.

It is now revealed that in Queensland the scheme has spent $4.5 million on improvements to schools earmarked for closure. Well, there’s nothing quite like closing that there stable door after the horse gallops over the horizon. Yowah State School, near Cunnamulla, has only three students but received $300,000 for a new library; outdoor play area and a watering system for its oval.

While there may be some legitimate debate as to whether the state or federal government was responsible for this incredible waste, it has to be said that the feds should wear it as nobody other than them are likely to take the advice of the Bligh government seriously.

Some of the real doozies are:

Bymount East State School (between Roma and Injune) 13 students (2008) - $300,000 for a new library, water tank, classroom upgrades and covered walkway

Daintree State School (near Mossman) 13 (2008) - $300,000 for a new library and office and classroom upgrades.

Grosmont State School (Wandoan region) 7 students - $300,000 for new library and for library extension and refurbishment

Nagoorin State School (Gladstone area) 9 students (2008) - $300,000 for resource centre, sign upgrade, classroom renewal and verandah work

Peek-a-Doo State School (Taroom area) 5 students - $300,000 for new resource centre and classroom learning area upgrades.

Palmerston East State School (near Innisfail) 13 students - $300,000 for resource centre, dual flush toilets and classroom renewal.

It would be interesting to compare this result with a list of marginal electorates, and find out the details of how many of these grants have been made in other states. This figure is horrendous, but is only one state.