Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. In case he missed it, I will run through it. In 2015-16, the schools funding is $15.7 billion. The next year it goes up by 8.1 per cent to $17 billion. The next year it goes up by six per cent to $18 billion. The year after that it goes up by four per cent to $18.7 billion. So every single year, this government is increasing funding to public schools and schools in this country. That is what we are doing, and we are doing that at the same time as I read out the increases in the expenditure that we are putting into schools. Expenditure, as a share of GDP in this country, is falling from 25.9 per cent to 25.3 per cent.

I make that point for this very critical reason: we are funding these increases by savings in the budget—by actually reducing expenditure and having priorities that ensure that we can fund these very things. That is not the approach of those opposite. If those opposite had come and said, 'Here are the savings that we're going to make to fund increases in other areas,' that would be a different issue.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Ms Butler interjecting—

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