Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Do not start, member of the opposition. The fact is, you have not delivered Gonski. They are not going to deliver Gonski. Let us talk about the Labor Party's performance on this. What we saw was all of these deals—last minute, dodgy deals to try and get all the states, or at least as many states and territories as possible, to sign up to Gonski before that election. There were deals like saying to South Australia, 'We will waive your public housing debt if you sign up to Gonski,' as though the public housing debt has anything to do with a policy that should be based on its merits and a signature on a contract that should be based on its merits. And the merit would have been that you would fully fund Gonski at $6.5 billion a year.

And what is all this nonsense with first Labor and now the LNP saying, 'We're delivering Gonski, but, by the way, all the money is beyond the forward estimates'—out in the never-never, a pipe dream, unfunded. That was always the problem with the Labor Party's approach to Gonski—all the money was in years 5 and 6. There was no explanation of how it was going to be paid and there was no certainty it was going to be delivered. Of course there was going to be no certainty, because it was so far out in the never-never after so many elections it literally was just a pipe dream. And the government is no better now with Gonski mark 2. All the money is way out beyond the forward estimates in years 9 and 10—so far into the future it is just a fantasy. If the government and the opposition are fair dinkum about our kids and properly funding our schools and properly delivery on David Gonski's very, very commendable recommendations, then where is the money in this fiscal 2017 budget? Instead, it is way out in the never-never. Not only is the money inadequate; it is so far into the distance that it is just a promise. In other words, neither this government nor the previous government have delivered it or will deliver it.

And then there is the fiddling that goes on with the LNP and Labor parties at a state and territory level. I am seeing it in Tasmania, where all this federal money was coming in and it looked pretty good and the state government has been saying, 'Yes, we are behind the Gonski money; we are going to make this happen,' and at the same time they are reducing the state contribution to education in my state. For example, for the fiscal year 2012-13, the state government was spending $821 million on our state schools. The following year it was $819 million on state schools, a reduction of $2 million. The following year, 2014-15, was $812 million a year, a reduction of a further $7 million, or a total of $9 million reduced over two years. So the net spend has been going down, because some—not all, I should add—state and territory governments have been using Gonski as a smokescreen to cut their education funding. What is the good of Canberra putting in extra money when the state and territory governments are taking it away? Do we not care about our children? Do we not care about our kids and our schools? Do we not understand the importance of education in this country? We are supposed to be a smart country; we are supposed to be preparing for the future economy. How can we do that when we are underfunding our schools at a time when we can afford to fund them properly?

I have been talking about Tasmania. Can I add another Tasmanian perspective on this: what the government's proposal will do to Tasmania in the next two years. The Turnbull government, if it gets its way with its version of so-called Gonski, will be reducing funding to education in Tasmania during the next two years—calendar years 2018 and 2019—by $85 million, of which $65 million would have gone to our public schools. So the government cannot come in here and crow about how good all this is, because they are crowing about something in 10 years time. We and our children in my state are worried about education next year, in 2018, and education the year after, in 2019. To use those figures again, in calendar years 2018 and 2019, Canberra will pay Tasmania under the proposed model by the current government $85 million less, and $65 million of that will be ripped out of our public schools. Those who come from big states might not think $85 million less on education and $65 million less for public schools is a big deal. It is a very big deal in my home state.

I see it every day when I go to my young daughters' public school to pick them up from school in the afternoon. My children go to a public primary school and I am proud of it. It is a great little school, but it can only be held together for so much longer with these sorts of funding cuts. They have already lost staff and programs in recent years because of the net decline in funding for that school on account of the decisions of the Tasmanian Liberal state government, hiding behind the Gonski money.

Mr Deputy Speaker, excuse me if I sound animated and passionate about this, but that is exactly how I feel. I am sick and tired of the Liberal-National coalition and the Labor Party using education policy and so-called Gonski as a political plaything to score points against each other. That is all it is; it is an opportunity to improve popularity or to improve chances of being elected at the next election. No wonder the community is sick and tired of politics and politicians. The government wonders why they have had 13 Newspolls behind and they are still stuck on 47 per cent. The Labor Party wonders why its leader is so unpopular. The only reason Labor is travelling on 53 per cent at the moment is they are not the government. No wonder the community has had a gutful of politics and politicians when they see something as important as education policy and education funding having become a plaything.

When the community learn about Gonski and think, 'What's all that mean?' they do a bit of research and see that Gonski recommended $5 billion a year. When indexed, it is actually $6.5 billion a year. What are we delivering? We have a Labor Party defending $2.65 billion a year and we have a government arguing for $1.86 billion a year. This is all when we have a federal budget bearing down on half a trillion dollars a year. What are our priorities in this place? This is an outrage. We are letting the community down. The community want the politics taken out of this. The community want governments and the parliament to support the spending of our wealth and our good fortune on the things that matter—things like our schools. The community want us spending it on our schools in a way that makes sure our public schools are every bit as good as our independent and Catholic schools.

The fact is that we are a very rich and very fortunate country. All of our schools can be the best schools in the world. We can have the best education system in the world. There is no barrier to that except our thinking and the way this parliament plays politics with education policy and education funding. Instead we seem to think—I do not, but some people in this place seem to; maybe their kids go to independent or Catholic schools—that public education is a safety net, just like they think our public hospitals should be a safety net for the poor people. That is garbage. We can afford to have the world's very best schools in both our public and our private sectors. So let's get rid of this public versus private debate, and let's realise that with the wealth, good fortune and smarts we have in this country they can all be the world's best and none of them will be a safety net for anyone. People can choose which is the best school and best match for their boy or girl, knowing that whatever school they choose will be well funded and one of the best schools in the world.

I am so disappointed and so cross with the Liberal-National coalition government for their proposal, and I am so cross with the Labor Party for their half-hearted Gonski. There is an opportunity in this place to reset our priorities and to fund our schools properly. I do not like Labor's Gonski and I do not like the Liberals' Gonski, because neither of them are Gonski. Both are hiding behind David Gonski because they want to score political advantage out of him, his good name and his good recommendations. As far as Tasmania goes, $85 million less over the next two years is unforgivable. This place is letting our kids down. I am appalled, and I think I speak for the members of my community when I say they are appalled.

See this speech in context