Kerry Bartlett (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Education, Science and Training. Would the minister inform the House what the government is doing to ensure that state government schools are equipped with the best possible infrastructure? Are state governments taking their responsibilities in this area seriously, especially in my state of New South Wales?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macquarie for his question. The funding of schools in this country is a shared responsibility. In the case of state government schools, state governments own, operate and manage those schools and have primary responsibility for the majority of the funding of those schools, and the federal government supplements that funding. In fact, we on this side of the House are proud of the fact—as the Prime Minister has just answered—that, since 1996, funding from the federal government for state government schools has increased by 118 per cent. Each and every year that we have been in government, funding for state government schools from the federal government has increased by 118 per cent. That funding comes in the form of capital and operating costs and special programs as needed.

In fact, members of this House will be well aware of the Investing in Our Schools program whereby additional Commonwealth funding of $700 million will be invested in state government schools for educational items and infrastructure such as computers, libraries, playground equipment and maintenance and repairs. Members will also be pleased to know that, to date, there have been three rounds in the Investing in Our Schools program and 6,200 state government schools have been assisted with Commonwealth funds from the Investing in Our Schools program. That is almost 90 per cent of state government schools in this country.

The member for Macquarie asked about New South Wales. In the three rounds, almost 2,000 state government schools in New South Wales have benefited from the Australian government’s Investing in Our Schools program, including some 46 schools in his electorate—and I know they would be grateful for the member’s support of this program.

The program did, however, highlight the chronic need in many state government schools for basic educational items. The federal government has been pleased to step in and assist with our $700 million program. But, despite that commitment, the Australian Education Union, in an attack on funding for state government schools, has once more directed its entire attack at the federal government. In an article published today in the Daily Telegraph, Pat Byrne, the federal president of the Australian Education Union, penned some 65 lines on the state of funding for state government schools—and not once did she mention the state governments’ primary responsibility for funding state government schools. Perhaps they were embarrassed to mention state government funding—and that may well be understandable. Let us take a look at what happened in the 2006 budgets.

In its 2006 budget the New South Wales government increased its funding to its schools by 3.9 per cent. In its 2006 budget the Australian government increased its funding to New South Wales government schools by 10.7 per cent. If the New South Wales government had increased its funding at the same rate as the Australian government increased its funding for New South Wales government schools, there would be an extra $492 million in the New South Wales government school sector.

This is the picture across the country. State governments across the country in their 2006 budgets increased funding for their schools by 4.9 per cent. The Australian government increased our funding for state government schools by over 11 per cent. If the state governments had matched the federal government rate of increase, there would be an extra $1.4 billion in state government schools across Australia.

It is not as if they do not have the money. The GST is providing them some $40 billion this year, and yet there is $1.4 billion that should be in state government schools if they matched the rate of increase of the Australian government. The priorities of state governments therefore do not include state government schools, and the Australian Education Union and federal Labor have no credibility in the education debate until they call upon state Labor governments to match the federal funding for state government schools.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.