Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

Can I start by saying what a pleasure it is to get a question on education from the opposition, because we haven't had one in the main chamber since 11 November last year. I welcome the questions from the other side of the Chamber and certainly welcome the questions from my side of the Chamber also.

I'd like to address a few points in the time I have available. Firstly, let me address the issue in relation to school funding, a very precise question phrased by the member for Moreton. We have increased funding to public schools by 100 per cent since coming to office. It's a doubling of funding.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

I'll take that interjection. The member for Moreton just said that of course there's been some population increase. The per capita funding in government schools since we came to office has increased 80 per cent in those eight years. That is a very significant per capita increase to government school funding in anyone's book.

I also know that the member is concerned, quite rightly, about disadvantaged students, including Indigenous students. The model that we have put in place, agreed to by every state and territory minister, including the Queensland government minister, has specific loadings for Indigenous students and disadvantaged students. Those loadings can sometimes end up doubling the overall funding that a student might attract at a particular school—a government school or, indeed, a non-government school—which is exactly as it should be. So, far from failing government schools, we have been the best friend ever to government schools.

I'd also like to address a key theme which has arisen in relation to the university sector. I take the points which members have raised. They say—and I quote them—that we have 'abandoned the university sector'. Nothing could be further from the truth. Right now there is $20.4 billion worth of funding, in direct funding and in HELP loan funding, going to the university sector—a record amount. There are a record number of students at our universities right now. Sixty per cent of those students, under our Job-ready Graduates Package, are paying either the same fees or lower fees. They're paying lower fees particularly in those courses where we need more people, because that's where the jobs are going to be in the future. Of course, in the budget last October we provided an additional $1.5 billion to our public universities—a billion dollars in extra research funding and half a billion dollars in additional courses. So to address the precise points that the opposition have been raising I'd just say: that is absolutely wrong. The universities make a very important contribution to our society in educating our students and in delivering research.

In the same context, the question was also raised as to what the borders being closed to international students means for our universities. Thankfully, the impact to date has not been as great as many anticipated. In fact, when you look at the aggregate enrolments of international students today versus those in 2019, prepandemic, they are down only 13 per cent. International students constitute about 27 per cent of all university revenue. That means that, to date, aggregate revenue is down only three per cent from international students and the borders being closed. We're going to watch that, but three per cent down is not anywhere near some of the very significant declines that we may have been anticipating earlier. The opposition constantly says that they should have got JobKeeper. Can I point out again to the opposition that in order to be eligible for JobKeeper you had to have a 30 per cent decline in revenues and, if you're a large organisation of a billion dollars in revenue or more, you had to have a 50 per cent decline in revenue. Three per cent doesn't get anywhere close.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

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