Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion proposed by Mr Bandt, the member for Melbourne. This government is investing in education. Labor believes that every Australian, no matter where they live or what their background, should be able to go to university if they have the ability. University funding has grown by 50 per cent since Labor came to office and will continue to grow over the next three years. Let us be clear: the decision we made was not to cut funding but to introduce an efficiency dividend of two per cent in 2014 and of 1.2 per cent in 2015. Real funding per student will continue to rise even with the efficiency dividend. In 2007, real funding per student was $16,147. In 2012, it was $17,659. After the efficiency dividend is taken into account, real funding per student is projected to exceed $18,000 in 2017. The government is retaining the Higher Education Grants Index on an ongoing basis, so there will be no return to the Howard government's practice of growing funding for universities at a far lower rate than costs were increasing.

The government would have preferred not to have had to make these savings. However, we have an obligation to ensure the sustainability of the budget and to fund our schools properly, as well as the national disability insurance scheme. The government remains committed to a strong university system in Australia as well as to a world-class school system. The Labor government has significantly increased investment in education since coming to office. The savings in this budget will allow the government to better target its spending on education, including funding for the National Plan for School Improvement.

The government will provide $29.7 billion in total education funding from 2013-14, compared with $18.4 billion in 2007-08—a real increase of 35 per cent. In total, over five years from 2007-08 to 2012-13, the government has provided $165.5 billion for education spending. This included $6.5 billion for the Education Investment Fund, $16 billion for the Building the Education Revolution and $2 billion for the Digital Education Revolution. The BER created employment opportunities, kept the economy strong and was a boost to business confidence, yet those opposite continue to espouse the view that it was not needed.

Despite the savings in this budget, the government is still providing record investment in education, significantly increasing funding in real terms since coming to office. The government is making historic investments in Australian schools, with up to $9.8 billion in extra Commonwealth funding over the next six years from 2014-15 available if the states agree to provide 35 per cent of the required investment and to sign up to the National Plan for School Improvement. To do this, we have $2.37 billion in savings from spending on higher education. The savings measures in this budget do not impact on the key reform of uncapping funding for undergraduate places, which means that more people continue to have the opportunity to participate in higher education. We know that education provides opportunities and, unlike those opposite, we believe that people from all backgrounds with the ability to study at university should get the opportunity, not just those who can afford it.

Furthermore the government is expanding investment in student places by providing an additional $97 million from 2014 to 2017 for additional Commonwealth supported places for bachelor and postgraduate courses. To be clear, what you get under Labor is increased funding for universities and increased funding for better schools. This government has a really strong record on higher education, skills and education more generally. Australians have a choice between Labor protecting jobs, investing in skills and making smart investments we need for the future, or the coalition whose savage slashes will cut to the bone.

The coalition passionately argue for cuts. It is in their DNA to always cut too hard and always cut in the wrong places like education. When will they commit to writing that, if they are elected in September, they will resign if they do not increase funding to universities and do not stop the boats. The savage cuts that Premier Campbell Newman has made in Queensland and the Liberals in Victoria are an entree to would happen if the federal Liberals win government at the next election. Before the election they want us to believe that you can have lower taxes, less savings and smaller deficits all at once. After the election we all know that they will slash and burn like their mates in Queensland and Victoria. That is a mindless recipe for higher unemployment and lower growth. The Gillard government will always act responsibly to prioritise jobs so that the economy works for more people.

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