Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

This is not the government that was promised to Australians at the election. Those opposite said, 'There will be no surprises and no excuses.' What a joke! Every day under Christopher Pyne is surprise day in education. Every day in 'Abbott-land' and 'Prime-Minister-land' is excuse day. Before the election they said, 'In education, we will make sure that no school is worse off.' I have the quote for the member for New England. They said:

We will honour the agreements … We will match the offers that Labor has made.

They also said that 'no school would be worse off'. They cannot keep that promise with the deals they are talking about doing with the states. The Northern Territory has been closing schools; Queensland has been closing schools.

We see needs-based funding as being fundamental to the improvement of Australian education. We in Labor understand that what is important is giving kids the best start in life. We believe in needs-based funding. We believe there should be a loading based on children's disabilities and learning difficulties. We believe there should be funding based on whether or not kids live regionally. We believe there should be funding based on the postcodes and the lower socio-economic status of the areas in which parents are sending their kids. We believe fundamentally in giving children needs-based funding. We are a party and an opposition that will back public schools. We are a party and an opposition that will never give up on state education, unlike those opposite. (Time expired)

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