Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the PISA research released overnight which confirms that Australia has one of the widest equity gaps in educational outcomes in the OECD. Will the Prime Minister today commit that all six of the Gonski loadings will actually reach the individual students who need them?

Mr Pyne interjecting—

This is actually not a joke, Christopher.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will ignore the end part of that question.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member opposite for her question. I am very concerned about what this report shows about declining academic standards between 2009 and 2012, when—guess who?—members opposite were in government.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Who was in government between 2009 and 2012?

Opposition members interjecting—

Members opposite, led by their leader, are bellowing, 'No excuses!' I do not intend to offer excuses for Labor's bad performance. They offer excuses; I will not. I must tell the Leader of the Opposition that academic standards declined seriously when he was the education minister, when the former government was in power, despite—

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gorton is warned.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Academic standards declined when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Education despite Commonwealth real spending on schools going up by 10 per cent in that period. They spent more money and got worse results—that is the truth. We will put back the $1.2 billion that they ripped out—

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

False claims.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs will remove himself from the House, under standing order 94(a).

The member for Isaacs then left the chamber.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will put that money back, but it is not all about money. It is also about higher standards and, unlike members opposite, we will work with the states to bring about greater principal autonomy, greater school autonomy, greater parental involvement and higher standards.

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. Will the Prime Minister refer to the six loadings—he committed to two yesterday—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. The Prime Minister has concluded his answer.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education. I refer the minister to the international findings that have recorded Australia's worst result in literacy, numeracy and science, despite an increase of 44 per cent in education funding and smaller class sizes over the last decade.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ryan is entitled to be heard in silence. Because of the noise on my left, I cannot hear her. The member for Ryan will start her question again.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously an uneducated opposition. I refer the minister to the international findings that have recorded Australia's worst result in literacy, numeracy and science, despite an increase of 44 per cent in education funding and smaller class sizes over the last decade. Minister, what is the government doing to address the sliding standards in Australian schools that it inherited from the previous government?

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would have thought the point of order would be fairly self-evident. The member should withdraw.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Perhaps the member for Ryan might withdraw the remarks she made prior to repeating her question.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Certainly, Madam Speaker—I withdraw.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am grateful to the member for Ryan for asking about this very serious issue. Unfortunately the Program for International Student Assessment results released today are the worst results for Australia since this assessment was created in 2000. They are the worst results by a long chalk. Between 2009 and 2010, Australia's ranking in the PISA fell from 10th to 16th in science, from 15th to 19th in maths and from ninth to 14th in reading—the biggest drops ever in the 13 years of PISA.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is warned.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is despite the fact that over the period of the previous Labor government they spent almost $20 billion in new spending on things like school halls and laptops and computers. Building the Education Revolution cost the taxpayer almost $20 billion. In real terms they increased education spending by 10 per cent, and in that period they were entirely responsible for a drop in the education outcomes of our Australian students. The Leader of the Opposition was out there today blaming the Howard government. Not only is the Leader of the Opposition a government change denier; he is now a Gillard government denier. Apparently it never happened. They are like the Rip Van Winkle years—the last six years never occurred. There was no Rudd government, there was no Gillard government. There is no way that the opposition can get away from the fact that from 2006 to 2013 they were in power. These PISA results were taken entirely when they were in power. It had nothing to do with the Howard government.

The Leader of the Opposition tried to blame the SES funding model. The SES funding model, which Labor say they hate, delivered 10 per cent more spending to schools in real terms in that period and results declined. Why did they decline? It was because of Labor's complete failure to recognise that money is not everything in education. It is about teacher quality, it is about a robust curriculum, it is about parental engagement, it is about principal autonomy and it is about discipline. Labor always completely misses the point on education. They think if you throw more money at a problem it will be solved. The PISA results today indicate that that is completely false—you can spend more and more money, which they insist on doing, but unless you get teacher quality right you will not bring about better outcomes. PISA also found that in Australia it was teacher quality that was the No. 1 determinant of student outcomes. It said that it did not matter what school you went to; it mattered which teacher your class was allocated.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week our friend the Minister for Education said he did not believe there was an equity problem in Australian schools. Today experts say there is in fact an equity problem in Australian schools. Prime Minister, who can Australians trust—the international experts or your education minister?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The only group that you cannot trust are members of the Australian Labor Party. There was nothing equitable about ripping $1.2 billion out of schools in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. What was fair and reasonable about having a system of school funding that was neither fair nor national? The people of Australia trust this government to keep its commitments to clean up Labor's mess, and that is exactly what we are doing.