Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today, in question time the Prime Minister commenced with the statement: 'It is unjust, inconsistent and a betrayal of what David Gonski intended.' Well, doesn't he need to go to the house of mirrors and have a good hard look! That is exactly what this second dud version of Gonski is. He also said today—and it is really interesting when you listen to the Prime Minister's language, as it is very telling: 'Labor needs to say whether they would fund it.' Do you know what the answer is? We would and we will. This government is cutting $22 billion out of Australian schools—there is no denying it. You cannot make a promise—'not a dollar difference'—and then say: 'No, no, we changed our mind. We're not going to fund it now, but we will give you this, and it is an increase.' Well, it is an increase when you cut it—it really is—but it is not a true increase.

In the Hunter region, my region, in the next two years $23 million will be ripped out of schools. This is a region where youth unemployment is amongst the highest in the country. We hear from those on the other side: 'This is not $22 billion in cuts—Labor is making it all up. It was never there in the first place.' Well, the money was there; it is there. It is a matter of priorities. Those on the other side do not want to properly fund education. What have members said today? 'It is the parents' responsibility to fund education.' This is about priorities. You do not want to fund education, and that is the bottom line.

This government is cutting $22 billion from Australian schools. Nobody on this side of the House or in public schools in my electorate is fooled. We know it is a cut, because the government said it was a cut in its own briefing papers to journalists. We know it is a cut, because the states and territories signed up for a six-year agreement under the original Gonski plan and we have two years to go. Those agreements have been signed. They are in place. That money was budgeted for by schools. As for making it up, go and talk to the principals in my electorate. They were not making it up when they signed up for it.

If this government is serious about education, it will drop its ludicrous Gonski 2.0, lame duck, second-rate plan and honour the original, genuine Gonski plan that it signed up for. 'Not a dollar difference'—how short is your memory? The money is there; it is just priorities. This government must prioritise school funding that actually and adequately meet the needs of every Australian schoolchild. In my electorate, nine schools will lose more than $1 million each. One school will lose close to $2 million in the next two years. You would not know it, but they have done a fantastic job with this shonky, rogue algorithm, schools-funding estimator—what a dodgy deal that is! The estimator only shows the funds the government will give to the schools in the next two years. It does not show what the government is tearing up in these Gonski agreements and what it will take away.

In my state the Department of Education data sets those two figures side-by-side. So, if you want some decent data and some evidence, go and have a look at those figures. It says what the government will give schools and what the government will take away. Do the arithmetic. There is the difference. No-one should be fooled. This government has the hide to call this budget fair, when our most disadvantaged students will miss out on funds. School principals know it—they know it when they receive their letters from this education ministers spruiking about extra money. They know he is not telling the whole story, that he has totally ignored the fact that the money that was promised will not be delivered, and that a lesser, paltry amount will be delivered in its place.

Two schools in my electorate show just what can be achieved when proper, genuine, original Gonski funding money comes to the party. Kurri Kurri High has employed a teacher to work with Aboriginal students. They have improved their writing results by 200 per cent. They have employed an experienced HSC marker to work with every individual HSC student, resulting in twice as many band 5s and far fewer students not finishing. These are really critical, important markers that we should be looking at.

We should not be bickering about this money in this House. This government should pay up and back our kids so that they may receive the excellent education that, firstly, they are desperately entitled to but, secondly, they deserve.

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