The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > General Discussion > GOVERNMENT primary schools in Victoria yesterday learned the extent of their BER rip-off.

GOVERNMENT primary schools in Victoria yesterday learned the extent of their BER rip-off.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All
The same report said that only about 254 of the 24,000-odd projects drew complaints.

That means it was about 97% successful.

It's a bit rich to take a handful of extreme cases and apply it across the whole scheme, especially when it did what it was supposed to do for the economy.

It's a bit different from wasting many billions on noisy submarines or helicopters that aren't suitable for their intended purpose or dud government IT contracts because at the end of the day, there is a tangible result for the community.

The construction of the Sydney Opera House was also deemed a fiasco in it's day and of sub-standard construction but nobody wants to tear it down now.
Posted by wobbles, Saturday, 7 August 2010 12:35:23 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Wobbles and Nairba,

If you actually read the article, the complaints were by the principals, who primarily weren't concerned the expenditure. These complaints were that what was built was shoddy, and did not meet their needs.

The other 97% got a very expensive free gift which for public schools cost on average more than twice what they should have, and in some notable cases nearly 5 times what they should have.

The $16.2bn BER could easily have been built for $10bn with the same benefits to schools and the economy. The rest is just poured down the drain, and has to be funded from future taxes
Posted by Shadow Minister, Saturday, 7 August 2010 4:52:16 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I ask OLO contributors to consider my words.
Shadow Minister in thread after thread gets boots and all into the ALP
he lets rip with the headline rip off, yes contractors ripped us of Labor may have miss managed some of it.
But the cash did its job, make no mistake it was spent to keep us in work and keep the country going.
I understand it is likely, very likely Abbott will win, the shadow of the man , his real self not the controlled person we are seeing.
The fact is Labor is in trouble, internal trouble it made its self, but the country will suffer very much for a very long time if the blindness that is people such as shadow minister prevail.
This country stands to elect [who ever wins] a government that must unite us not break us apart nothing shadow minister posts is balanced.
Posted by Belly, Saturday, 7 August 2010 2:51:39 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
fully support you Belly, I am not exclusively a lib /lab voter, i'm that horrid swinger. I see the problems labor is having and shake my head in amazement. All i have to do to give them another go is look at Abbott. No way. Surely Julia will get on top of what Kevin couldn't.

Shadow minister, yes that news paper article with it's need to be a sensation for circulation said what it said, just most of it is contradicted by yesterdays interim report and by the P&C association. Our own principle was recently taken out of context and quoted as disapproving of our new library under the BER scheme, he was Furious but got no apology or withdrawal from the news paper. Yes it cost to much and i have agreed many times to this but no it was not a waist and in most cases the cost is very easy to explain. The small amount of ripp offs will be found and dealt with and are only so obvious because of the scale and exposure of the operation. The constant attacks on these programs using news paper articles carries no credibility. Principles who have no idea about building and project management would do well to concentrate on the education of their students that they are so heavily criticised over and leave administration to the department.

I have explained this before but for NSW get the department of education building standards, then read the tendering requirements. Add to this the need to have a supervising contractor and the extra demand on resources you will find most of your cost. These standards and contractual conditions don't apply to catholic schools. So nothing stops them laying unsprung floors in their halls or putting budget carpet in their class room. when problems are discovered with the buildings during renovation, such as the discovery of asbestos. This is costly to deal with and common in older government schools.
Posted by nairbe, Saturday, 7 August 2010 4:24:21 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Any CEO who "allows himself to be ripped off" ends up bankrupting the company and finds himself not only unemployed but unemployable. (if not actually in jail.)

JG is trying to say that because they meant well its all OK.

The sooner Wayne Swan joins the unemployment queue the better. (I look forward to his swan song :-)
Posted by Shadow Minister, Sunday, 8 August 2010 4:04:09 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
shadow minister like his party shows little regard for truth.
Often he and others say I am biased, yet no mirrors must exist in their homes.
AFTER the election I intend to start threads that question my party.
One that will call for the total defeat of the NSW government, as a favor to those who want to rebuild it to the party it once was.
Self interest lies and made up headlines dominate us, are we heading for a world that no longer wants honesty?
We stand weeks away from an Abbott win, our country's loss, but put shadow and his like in power and we all pay.
Posted by Belly, Sunday, 8 August 2010 5:17:32 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy