Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They will be shot once the Prime Minister gets her way because she wants to use this funding model to cut funding to independent and Catholic schools. There is no doubt about it—that is her long-term agenda.

I declare I have an interest in this because I have some children at the Hamilton and Alexandra College in Hamilton in western Victoria. That school has also been indexed the same as the elite schools. When the principal of that school wrote and asked about the flawed funding index he was bullied. He was told, ‘Tell us what your problems are.’ Did he get a response when he detailed all the problems he had with it? No. He was told, ‘Either you sign up and agree with what we are doing or you will suffer the consequences.’ There was no detailed consultation. Sadly, in our local newspapers we are getting headlines such as ‘Schools at risk’. This rural school in Hamilton that offers a very good education is all of a sudden at risk because of what this government is doing.

Sadly, this is the agenda of this Prime Minister. She does not believe in properly funding our private, independent and Catholic schools. She wants to get the indexation changed so she can rip the guts out of them. We on this side will not let it happen. We will be dubious about the MySchool website.

Debate interrupted.

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