Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is very disappointing to have to walk into this chamber and address this most appalling and misleading motion from the member for Lalor. All it does is perpetuate a complete hoax. It actually shows every reason why this Labor opposition are completely unfit to ever sit on the Treasury benches of this country again.

This motion refers to the 'biggest cuts'. Let us go through the facts and look at what is actually happening to school expenditure in this country: this year there is an 8.7 per cent increase; next year it is 8.9 per cent; the year after, it is another 8.9 per cent; and the year after that it is 6.6 per cent. If this government runs its three years, then in the last budget it will hand down it will be a 37.4 per cent increase—and this mob walk in here and claim that is a cut! We know that they have simply failed remedial maths at school: 37.4 per cent more money is going to spending on schools. And you know what? I come from a public school background in New South Wales; and for New South Wales public schools, it is even better. This year, the amount for New South Wales public schools is 10.2 per cent; the year after, 10.6 per cent; the year after that, another 14.4 per cent; and the year after that, 7.2 per cent. In fact, in the next four years, New South Wales non-government schools will get close to 50 per cent more in government funding. This government, in our last budget, will be giving 50 per cent more money to New South Wales public schools than this previous mob opposite did, and they come in here and have the hide to perpetuate this myth that there are somehow cuts to funding. It is simply an absolute hoax.

I had a discussion with someone from the teachers federation about this hoax. I said, 'Can you explain to me why this Gonski funding is back loaded in years 5 and 6? She scratched said and said she did not have a clue. But we know why it is. It is because our forward estimates period are in a four-year cycle. So if you put expenditures in years 5 and 6, you do not have to show where the money is coming from. And that is what this mob opposite have done—a complete hoax. They are perpetuating a hoax on the schools of Australia. They are perpetuating a hoax on the teachers and the parents and, worst of all, they are perpetuating a hoax on children of this country.

We know they believe in magic-pudding economics. But we have to ask: where will this so-called mythical $30 billion come from? I will tell you where it could have come from. If we had not have had the six years of reckless, wasteful and politically motivated spending from this mob opposite, we would not have that interest bill that we have to pay. If we go back six years, we never had to pay interest as a Commonwealth government. We were actually receiving $1 billion a year. But after six years of reckless and wasteful spending from this mob, we now have to find 13½ billion dollars every single year—that is, over $1 billion every month that we have to cut that could have otherwise gone to schools because of this mob's reckless spending, waste and the mismanagement of this country. And those opposite come back into this parliament and carry on about cuts to expenditure. What an absolute disgrace.

It is about time those opposite put our country first ahead of their own political interests and started talking about how we can do best with the limited funding we have. And remember, that limited funding for public schools in New South Wales will be 50 per cent more. We need to encourage our kids and tell them about the great future that they have in this country. We need to talking up those free-trade agreements that we have just signed with China and we have just signed with Korea and we have just signed with Japan. We should be talking to them about the opportunities they have from the growing economy of India. That is what we should talking about. We should be giving incentive to our kids. We should be having entrepreneurial studies as one of the most important things we do instead of this nonsense we have of sustainability—teaching them low growth. We can throw all of the money we want at schools but unless the kids have the motivation to study, that money is wasted. This is an appalling motion. It is an absolute hoax and it should be condemned.

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