Liberals – Gillard caught out on financial literacy

Gillard caught out on financial literacy
18/08/10

Julia Gillard has been caught out again after her announcement today that she wants to improve the financial literacy of young people.
After the embarrassing ‘off the cuff’ speech Ms Gillard delivered at Labor’s campaign launch which was revealed to be fully written, Julia Gillard has announced she will fund a program that her own Treasurer, Wayne Swan, cut in 2008.
The Financial Literacy Foundation was established in 2005 by the previous Howard Government to improve the understanding of money and help develop the financial skills of children.
The Gillard/Rudd Government slashed $5.4 million in funding to the Foundation and shifted it into the Australian Securities and Investment Commission in 2008 as a cost cutting exercise.
Now, for a quick headline, the ‘real’ Julia Gillard is going to fund the Financial Literacy Foundation again, but who knows how long it will survive this time around.
When contemplating the blow-outs and record waste in the education portfolio under Ms Gillard’s watch, such as the Computers in Schools program which blew out by $1.2 billion, and the School Hall program with a record $8 billion wasted, some might suggest Julia Gillard might benefit from a little financial literacy training herself.

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