Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. It is absolutely essential that we understand that we do have to enter into agreements. If we want to forge a new pathway then we have to constructively engage the states, because, as you have identified, 'business as usual' is not working. How can we just say, 'We're just going to tip a bucket of money in, but we are not going to take any responsibility for what that outcome is'? It does not make sense.

Let me just make one little comment too about Western Australia. It is quite interesting. The minister yesterday was claiming that Labor wanted to punish WA. We only offered them $170 million over the next four years for their schools, and we were punishing them because we did not like the school autonomy of the independent public school model that had been introduced. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard twice came down to schools in what was then my state seat and absolutely promoted and embraced the principle of student autonomy. We offered $170 million. You have gone in now and offered only $120 million. It has gone from $178 million to $120 million. So you have actually cut by one-third the amount of funding that was on offer from Labor. (Time expired)

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