Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As the minister for education made clear in his previous answer, Commonwealth funding for schools goes up eight per cent this year, eight per cent next year, six per cent the year after that and four per cent in the final year of the forward estimates. Our funding for schools goes up and up and up. We have fully delivered on our pre-election commitments. In fact, we have overdelivered, because we put back in $1.2 billion that members opposite had cut out—$1.2 billion that members opposite had ripped out of the state school systems in two states and one territory. We put it back because of the splendid arguments put to me and the Treasurer by the minister for education.

We hear time and time again from members opposite of the so-called billions that were cut. This was money that never existed. It was pie-in-the-sky money that was promised beyond the forward estimates by the former government—

Ms O'Neil interjecting—

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