Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

You have made this about money, so let me answer that point straight up. Here are some facts. I will start with Australia and then localise it to my own state of Western Australia. The total Commonwealth funding to all schools across Australia will be $73.9 billion as at the 2016-17 MYEFO. Recurrent Commonwealth funding to all schools across Australia will total $73.1 billion as at the 2016-17 MYEFO over the forward estimates period. Based on current estimates, total Commonwealth funding to all schools across WA will increase by $600 million—a 38.2 per cent increase from 2015-16 to 2019-20. We are not cutting funding. Total government funding to government schools in WA will increase by $369.5 million by 2019-20—a 65.6 per cent increase from 2015-16. Total Commonwealth funding to non-government schools in WA will increase by $236 million by 2019-20—a 22.9 per cent increase from 2015-16. So the facts just do not add up for you; they effectively defeat your argument, but I will keep going.

In Canning itself, from 2014-15 to 2016-17 there was an increase in funding to all 52 schools of $382 million. But as I said, quality education is not just about money. It is much more than that. It is a range of factors. It is about parents, it is about children and it is about teachers, working in collaboration to provide quality education to young children. It is about community and commitment from that community.

One thing that is very distinctive about the coalition's approach to education is that we want to empower local communities when it comes to educating their children. That is why we are very supportive of the Independent Public Schools model. While they remain government schools, they are accountable to staff and parents. We know that giving power back to local communities improves educational outcomes. We encourage those on the ground to make important decisions. It puts students and parents first and removes some of those command-and-control features which those opposite really like to have at their fingertips. Australia does not happen in Canberra; it happens in local communities spread out across this continent. The IPS model has been a clear success in Western Australia. There are 445 IPS schools in the state. We believe in the Independent Public Schools model. We believe it is good for kids and for communities and it delivers better educational results. That is why we promised and delivered $70 million back in 2013 to encourage more primary and secondary schools to adopt this model. In the 2016 budget we continued this effort, pledging an additional $19 million to the effort until the end of 2017. So across the board the coalition's education policy provides extensive funding. In fact, funding is currently at record levels, with the budget and forward estimates moving towards $20.2 billion by 2020.

I just want to say a few things about Canning independent public schools. The Serpentine Primary School has just been recognised as an independent public school. South Halls Head Primary School, in the south of my electorate, and Jarrahdale Primary School, in an old timber town which started in 1874, are independent. Every time I go there I admire their community library. It is a reflection of how healthy the relationship between parents, students and teachers is. I think of West Byford Primary School and Pickering Brook Primary School. All these schools are independent. They are not produced through funding but, rather, through that relationship at the community level. (Time expired)

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