Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Sydney and the shadow minister for education for bringing this motion to the House because it gives me and my colleagues the opportunity to once again correct the record. I must say I was somewhat underwhelmed at the conviction of the member for Sydney's contribution. You would think she was just going through the motion of presenting it and does not actually believe it. Once again, we are dealing with more of Labor's politics of scaremongering and misinformation over education funding.

It is interesting that, in the last federal election, they mounted this campaign, as well as many others. In order to facilitate that campaign, they press-ganged people who were teachers and members of the union into handing out how-to-vote cards at polling booths, despite the fact they did not want to and did not agree with the union's position. But they were told that they had to hand out how-to-vote cards for the Gonski campaign. These people and many others see through this charade; that is exactly what it is—a charade.

Those opposite pretend there was all this money for education in 2017-18 and 2018-19. That money never existed because it was never budgeted for. I can say to those opposite who are listening: those schools in Queensland that I represent are $800 million better off under the coalition government than they would have been had Labor got re-elected in 2013. When I go and talk to the principals in those state schools, they are very thankful for that extra money. We have worked very hard to continue to ensure we can grow education funding for our schools. We on this side of the House recognise how important it is that our schools are properly resourced. In that regard, the coalition government have provided record levels of funding to schools across our country—some $69.5 billion in total over the forward estimates in all states and territories.

In my state of Queensland alone, the Australian government has increased funding for schools by 29 per cent from 2014-15 to 2018-19. There are no cuts to school funding, and the coalition will continue to build on the existing base of school funding from $16 billion in 2016 to $20 billion in 2020.

Unless those people opposite cannot read a budget paper, and 2016 was the most recent budget paper, it shows that funding for schools continues to increase every single year. The most important thing is that it is funded. Unlike those opposite—who like pixie fairy dust and want to sprinkle it everywhere and promise people money on the never-never—this coalition government is actually promising to deliver the funding. You never, ever funded the additional funding. Unlike Labor, this government has a plan and a purpose for education funding, and that is to continue to grow the quality of education in our schools.

We have tremendous teachers in our schools. I meet with them on a regular basis. It is the resources that we have given them under a coalition government that have allowed them to do tremendous things in some of our hardest, low-socioeconomic schools. We have committed to them that we will continue to build on that funding base, through our Quality Schools, Quality Outcomes document.

We are currently in discussions with the various states around funding models for the years to come, because we understand that they need that certainty, and I accept that. I have had that discussion with my principals.

It is a coalition government that is going to deliver the funding and the support necessary for our schools to continue to grow and prosper.

See this speech in context