Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As the honourable member knows very well, the government is investing more money in schools than ever before. We have implemented needs based funding and we have matched and we have exceeded the former Labor government's over the four years from 2014. We have committed record levels of funding at $69½ billion over the forward estimates, and that includes a record of $5 billion in funding for students with a disability. But despite a 100 per cent increase in Commonwealth and state expenditure on schools, in real terms, between 1988 and 2012, there has been an absolute and relative decline in student performance. This demonstrates that spending more money does not necessarily get you better outcomes.

School funding arrangements for 2018 and beyond will be subject to negotiations with the states and territories and the non-government education authorities. But, unlike the opposition, we will not promise the money first and, then, seek to negotiate the outcomes later. The Labor Party have no credibility at all when it comes to these big-spending proposals, as they have no way of funding them. They have no hope of funding them. Even members of the Labor Party do not believe they can deliver on their schools policy. The South Australian Labor Premier, Jay Weatherill, said of the Leader of the Opposition's education policy announcement, 'We haven't seen any coherent or sustainable way in which that is going to be funded.'

Ms Macklin interjecting—

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