Senator WILLIAMS (New South Wales) (7.53 pm)—I would like to quickly respond to Senator McEwen’s comments about the Building the Education Revolution and say a bit about New South Wales,

where 56 per cent of the complaints about the BER came from. I have said I will not go to one BER project opening unless it is a private school because private schools have managed the money far better than the public system has in New South Wales. I am reminded of the school at Manilla, just out of Tamworth, where they spent $1.8 million. Think about this: $300,000 will build a good four-bedroom brick home. So for $1.8 million you should get six good brick homes. What did they get for $1.8 million? They got two demountable classrooms that were brought in on a semitrailer. It gets worse. On election day last year I went to the little town of Kingstown where $300,000 was spent at the school on a building 10 metres by eight metres with virtually nothing in it. That money would have built a good four-bedroom brick-veneer home; it built a hall, 10 metres by eight metres.

March 26 this Saturday is election day in New South Wales, where there are four-year fixed terms. I can assure you that when you look at the current New South Wales government, you will think four years is a hell of long time to wait for an election. I see Senator McGauran is in the chamber and he is laughing. Senator McGauran, four years in New South Wales is like 50 years when you have to wait for an election to get rid of a government that is incompetent and corrupt, that has former members of parliament in jail and has blown its budget. Let me give you some details. Nineteen high-profile premiers, ministers and members have gone in the past few years. Today we read of another developing scandal: a land deal of over $12 million involving Mr Robertson—supposedly the new up and coming leader for the Labor Party.

Since August 2005, New South Wales has had three premiers, six ministers for police, five ministers for health, five ministers for roads, four ministers for education and three ministers for transport—all in just over five years. New South Wales debt has risen from $15 billion in 2003 to a projected $55 billion in 2014. In 1995, Bob Carr promised to halve hospital waiting lists or resign. Since then they have closed 2,600 hospital beds and the number of people waiting for elective surgery has doubled. It has gone from bad to worse. I live in Inverell, two hours drive north of Tamworth. Our hospital is governed from Newcastle, 4½ drives away. When the new government gets in, we look forward to bringing the management of our hospitals back to local people—the local doctors, nurses, solicitors, accountants and those volunteers who ran our hospitals for 140 years and did a great job. But Bob Carr said: ‘They have to go. We’ll let the bureaucrats run them.’ The cost of living has increased in New South Wales. Electricity prices are soaring.

Just prior to shutting down the parliament, Treasurer Eric Roozendaal sold off the electricity base in New South Wales for some $5.5 billion. Former Treasurer Michael Costa was going to sell it for around $30 billion. Of course, he pulled the plug and walked out, taking the bullet for then Premier Morris Iemma. Treasurer Roozendaal sold it off for $5.5 billion and Premier Kristina Keneally then shut parliament. Why? A legislative council committee was going to investigate the sale. Shut parliament and there is no committee and no investigation. Dirty tricks there.

New South Wales accounted for 22 per cent of Building the Education Revolution projects and was responsible for 56 per cent of the complaints. A national survey shows that 64 per cent of New South Wales voters hold the Keneally government responsible for the state’s transport problems. We can talk about health, transport, law and order, police numbers or roads that are deteriorating; they have failed every category of responsibility in delivering for the people of New South Wales. They have been such a bad government that 500 people a week have been leaving the state and moving to Queensland and moving interstate. Hence, we have lost two federal seats over the past four years from New South Wales that have been transferred to Queensland, where there are now two extra federal seats. That has happened because the government was driving the population out of the state.

Prime Minister Gillard hoisted the white flag asking voters not to give the coalition too big a blank cheque. Already the Prime Minister has said, ‘It is all over red rover.’ I even hear the bookies are already paying out on the result on Saturday. Bob Hawke pulled the pin on them a long time ago. Former Senator Graham Richardson conceded defeat in May last year. Premier Kristina Keneally is saying, ‘I showed 23 MPs the door.’ But she is now getting text messages saying, ‘We resign.’ I would love to read the text messages. There would be some bright language there saying, ‘We actually resigned. You did not show us the door.’