Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to thank the member for Sydney for providing government members with the opportunity to put on the record, yet again, the Turnbull coalition government's record level of funding for schools—the highest amount provided by any government thus far, and only set to grow in coming years—as well as our genuine, needs-based Gonski funding.

The matter for discussion today is an absurdly misleading piece of propaganda from those opposite. Every government member who has spoken on our education funding has repeated that there are no cuts to schools funding. This is a blatant attempt by those opposite to confuse and mislead the Australian public. Funding to schools nationwide is set to increase by $18.6 billion, and Labor is opposing this funding increase. Shame! I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it is a pure fiction to proclaim that funding changes are a cut when the original proposal by Labor when they were formerly in government was, in fact, unfunded and therefore meant nothing. The ABC and RMIT fact checked this, noting that the claim that the government had cut $22 billion from schools was misleading. The fact that the opposition continues to bring this misleading news before the parliament is a shame, particularly for schoolchildren. It is therefore the opposition's failure to be up-front with the Australian people about funding for schools that should be the centre of debate and the point of this discussion.

What we have done is remove 27 different funding agreements and put in their place one uniform agreement which ensures fairer needs-based funding for our education sector. We have brought in transparency and consistency. The pushback from Labor on our needs-based Gonski reforms is hypocritical, to the point where they do not want the public to see that, in fact, all Australian students are treated equitably, based on fairness and quality. This is an attempt to hide the fact that their promises are without real substance.

Furthermore, today I want to focus in particular on some of the comments that have been made by those on the Gonski panel. David Gonski himself said:

… I'm very pleased to hear that the Turnbull Government has accepted the fundamental recommendations of our 2011 report, and particularly regarding a needs-based situation.

…   …   …

… I'm very pleased that there is substantial additional money, even over indexation and in the foreseeable future.

Also, Dr Ken Boston said that Australia is on the cusp of 'a new deal of historic national importance', in that there are no grounds for opposition to the schools funding bill in principle, and that it will be 'a tragedy if the school funding bill is voted down in the Senate'. These quotes are from members of the Gonski panel. I thought I would also mention the changes for Catholic schools and the benefits that our Gonski 2.0 changes will bring.

The Catholic sector is perceived to be the most adversely affected. However, in Dunkley all nine Catholic schools, not just government schools but also independent schools as well, will receive an increase in funding. The Catholic schools in my electorate will have their funding increased per student by about 40 per cent over the next decade—a total funding increase of over $101 million over the next period up to 2027. I recently met with representatives from five of the nine Catholic schools in my electorate of Dunkley to discuss their concerns and address the campaign of misinformation spread by those opposite. The principals of St Francis Xavier's, St John's, St Augustine's, St Thomas More's and John Paul College met with me in person and together we spoke by phone to the minister for education for over 45 minutes on the questions that they had. The minister answered each and every question in great detail that the principals raised and the meeting was received very well. The minister and I continue to work with all schools in Dunkley to ensure that the information they receive is accurate and complete, and not the political spin that has come out recently from those opposite.

I note in particular the Victorian Catholic school funding goes from $8,825 average per student in 2017 to $12,249 in 2027. There is an average annual growth in per student funding to Victorian Catholic schools of 3.5 per cent from 2017 to 2021. Currently, Victorian Catholic schools receive block funding by the Catholic Education Commission in Victoria. There will continue to be block funding so Catholic schools can distribute these funds equitably as they want to. I encourage those opposite to support our education bill and our changes.

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