Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The future of education is certainly a matter of public importance. But it is simply absurd to suggest, as the member for Sydney and others opposite here today have done, that this government has not been upfront about real, needs-based funding for our schools. The fact is: under this government, funding for schools will grow from a record $17.5 billion in 2017 to $30.6 billion in 2027. This equates to 4.1 per cent growth per student, as we have heard all the way through this debate. This is not a cut; this is an increase. This is not Monopoly money, as members opposite would like to play with; this is real money. It is certainly an increase from what has already been delivered for schools in my electorate and, indeed, around the country.

For members opposite, the fact of the matter is: a cut is not a cut if it was not funded in the first place. It is just a fiction. So let's stop the fiction, the rhetoric and the ideological posturing that is not delivering a single extra cent of real money into real schools for real students in my electorate on the Central Coast. Let's talk about the facts. The fact remains that, in my electorate of Robertson, all 48 schools will be receiving significant increases in funding because of our needs-based funding model—an additional $3.11 million over the next 10 years. This is great news for each and every one of these schools and their 23½ thousand students. It is great news for parents on the Central Coast who do want to see a level playing field when it comes to funding. It is great news for all of us on this side of the House who believe that the government should ensure that funding is fair, such that a student with the same needs in the same educational sector receives the same level of federal support regardless of where they live.

What does this mean in practice? Let's pull together a few examples, as members on this side of the House have done in this debate, and look at the schools funding estimator. In my electorate, for example, funding will increase over the next 10 years to: Brisbane Water Secondary College at Woy Woy by $14.928 million; Kincumber Public School by $3.18 million; Henry Kendall High School by $6.591 million; Gosford High School by $8.546 million; Terrigal High School by $8.755 million. If I have a look at some of the non-government schools in my electorate, for instance: St Philip's Christian College at Narara—my old school—$11.617 million; and Green Point Christian, College $24.489 million. So, on my reading, it does sound pretty fair, and these reforms are certainly very transparent. In fact—and this is probably another fact that members opposite do not like—every parent, teacher and student can now find out how their school will be better off by using the new online school funding estimator. This is an estimator that gives our local principals and teachers the information they need to make long-term plans for their school. It is all part of our commitment to real, needs based funding that is fair, consistent and transparent.

This week in parliament I have been speaking with parents of Catholic school students and with local stakeholders about these changes and what they mean for the Catholic sector. I have told parents in my electorate the facts: that, in the 10 years to 2027, for instance, St Joseph's Catholic College at East Gosford will receive funding increases of more than $17.8 million, St John the Baptist at Woy Woy more than $9 million, Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic primary school in Terrigal more than $8 million, Holy Cross Catholic primary school at Kincumber more than $6 million, and St Patrick's Catholic primary school at East Gosford more than $6 million. This does not sound like a cut to me. In fact, Catholic schools in New South Wales as a whole will see an increase in their funding of more than 47 per cent over that same 10-year period and a 43 per cent increase to schools in the Broken Bay diocese.

To be clear: I support Catholic and independent education wholeheartedly, as I do the public state school system. As the daughter of an independent school principal from a low-fee-paying school in a demographic that draws parents who value choice and faith in education but who also make significant sacrifices to ensure that their children are afforded that choice, as my own parents did, I understand what these low-fee, independent and Catholic schools mean to our local community and the families whose children attend them. This is another fact that members opposite are ignoring: that the Commonwealth will continue to provide a single block of funding to the New South Wales Catholic school system for them to distribute as they see fit, as they currently do and as they will continue to be able to do. It is time to end these special deals and this ideologically-driven warfare where the people who miss out are those we purport to care about—our children.

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