JULIA GILLARD: Today is a very significant day for the Rudd Labor Government's Digital Education Revolution. Today I can announce that 896 secondary schools around the country, will be receiving funding for 116,820 computers. This is the first allocation from our National Secondary School Computer Fund. It's an allocation of $116 million.
We've made this first allocation available for schools that had ratios of computers to students of one to eight, or worse. In this first round, we've deliberately targeted those schools that were most in need, with one computer to eight or more students.
We have been working with schools in this application process. We first of all audited, to see who had ratios like that. We then invited schools that had a ratio of one to eight or worse, to apply. 95 per cent of schools asked to apply, did make an application, and today we're announcing the results of that application process.
This is good news for the 896 schools involved, it's good news for the students at those schools. To get an education in today's world, you need to be learning with today's technology. Schools over the past decade have been trying to introduce computers into their learning program. The Rudd Labor Government program is about turbo-charging those efforts, making sure that there is available an additional $1.2 billion, to help schools get into the digital age.
The schools that are receiving allocations from today's announcement will have sufficient resources to take their ratios to one to two, that is, one computer for two students. That is the first part of our delivery. We will have a second round opening on 14 July, that round will be for all schools, and it's our aim to take all schools to a ratio of one to two, through the first few rounds of this program.
In terms of finances, we have made available a resource of $1000 per computer that a school needs. Because of bulk purchasing arrangements, many schools will be able to access the kind of computer technology they want, for a far lesser amount of money. If a school gets a computer for $500, then it will be able to use the remaining $500 to assist with deployment costs.
In addition, the Federal Government is directly investing $650,000 in the professional development of teachers, and we are making available through the States and Territories, $11.25 million to assist with the professional development of teachers on these new technologies.
We are also making available $32.6 million for curriculum resources, that can be used online and through computers, and we are also making available $10 million for help and support for our computers in schools program.
Last year we promised the Australian people we would deliver computers to students in secondary schools around the country. We promised Australians we would deliver a Digital Education Revolution as part of our Education Revolution, as part of making sure every Australian student had access to a world class education. I'm delighted to be able to announce the first stage today of our Digital Education Revolution, with the successful 896 schools enjoying access to more than 116,000 computers. Are there questions?
QUESTION: Originally, the government was talking about providing computers to every student, are you now backing away from that?
JULIA GILLARD: In the first few rounds of this program, we are taking schools to a ratio of one to two. We were dealing with schools that had a ratio of one to eight or worse, and in the first round we said we would get them to a ratio of one to two.
Our long term vision is that students have access to computers when they need them, as part of their learning experience. That is that there is an effective ratio of one to one. Schools that have participated in this round will be able to apply in later rounds for further resources, but we wanted, in the initial stages, to make sure that students around the country benefited from a ratio of one to two.
QUESTION: How soon will you be able to achieve that one to one long term vision?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, the funding is going to be rolled out; we've got the first resource being rolled out today. This is a $1.2 billion program, including this financial year, it is rolling out over five financial years. That $1.2 billion resource is there so that we can invest in every secondary school in the country, wherever it is, every state, every territory, every school system, and we can make sure that students in those schools have access on an effective one to one basis.
QUESTION: When can we expect phase two?
JULIA GILLARD: Phase two will open for applications on 14 July, so it will open for applications very shortly, and it will be followed by further rounds. This is a program where we want to keep it rolling, we want to make sure that resources are flowing into schools.
QUESTION: On another topic, could Belinda Neal have been treated the way she has by the Prime Minister, because she's a woman?
JULIA GILLARD: Yesterday I spoke to the Prime Minister about the matter involving Ms Neal. Obviously I had become concerned that there was a pattern of behaviour here, and that we needed to act. I spoke to the Prime Minister, and following that conversation, the Prime Minister spoke to Ms Neal. I would have taken exactly the same action, had the matter involved a male Member of Parliament and the Prime Minister would have taken exactly the same action had the matter involved a male Member of Parliament.
QUESTION: Are you confident that this is the last that we'll hear of her pattern of behaviour, or is this the tip of the iceberg?
JULIA GILLARD: Well Ms Neal has obviously said that she will seek professional assistance and that is what should be done now. Ms Neal has said she would do that, and of course that will occur in the coming period. I think that people should now understand Ms Neal will be seeking that professional assistance, and should allow that to occur.
QUESTION: How does someone of her character become a Labor MP in the first place?
JULIA GILLARD: Well clearly we became concerned about a pattern of behaviour here, Ms Neal has said that she will seek some professional assistance. I believe that that is the appropriate course of action, and it's going to be undertaken.
QUESTION: When did you first have concerns about her?
JULIA GILLARD: There has been intensive publicity obviously in recent days, about a matter involving an incident in a restaurant and a matter involving an incident on a soccer field. I obviously became concerned about those matters, and spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday.
QUESTION: Are you disappointed with back benchers expressing their concern about the way the issue's been handled?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, obviously the Prime Minister and I took what we believed to be the appropriate action yesterday, Ms Neal will now seek some professional assistance. I believe that that's appropriate.
But I would echo what the Prime Minister has said, that is, that members of the community expect Members of Parliament to live up to certain standards, that those standards apply to Members of Parliament whenever we're in public, even if we're in public for a private occasion. And I would also certainly say, as the Prime Minister has, that no-one's preselection is guaranteed, that we are all up for judgement, and that is an appropriate thing, because everybody needs to be doing their best to represent their community in the National Parliament.
QUESTION: Have you spoken to Julia Irwin today, regarding her comments as well?
JULIA GILLARD: No, I haven't spoken to Julia Irwin today. I know Ms Irwin has made a series of comments and I'm making it clear I do not agree with those comments.
OK, can I say thank you very much to Bill Shorten, the Member for Maribyrnong who's with me, to Annette Ellis and to Gary Gray, who you saw over the internet connections. We wanted to see this technology doing one of the things we know it can do, which is to provide a bridge and a link between schools. We've seen a school in the ACT, a school in Western Australia, and of course here, in my home town of Melbourne, brought together through this technology.
Thank you very much.
ENDS