Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education. Minister, how will the government ensure that the students at Merrylands High School actually get the funding?

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

The good news for the parliament is that the coalition announced on Monday that we would spend $1.2 billion more on school education—so that students in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia were not treated as second-class citizens. We expect the states to make whatever contribution their budget allows them to towards the entire funding—to the loadings and to the base funding for the new school funding model—because we intend to treat the states and territories like adults. We do not believe in the central command and control model that Labor believes in—running things from Canberra. As I explained yesterday to the member for Adelaide—and it is no wonder she has given this question to the member for Parramatta today, because yesterday the member for Adelaide was delivered a lesson on how the system works in Australia—there are state schools and there are non-government schools. The non-government schools are run by Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and independent Christians; there are Jewish schools; Muslim schools; and some are entirely non-denominational. And then there are state schools. And they are owned and operated by the states and territories. So we have decided that a good way to fund schools is to treat the states and territories like they are adults. The Commonwealth will make its contribution; in fact, we will go even further than the promise Labor made in the election. Labor wanted to give $1.6 billion—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition might like to remember she is warned, or she might like to join the member for Isaacs.

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

to schools; we will give $2.8 billion to schools over the next four years. We have put $1.2 billion in; Labor ripped out $1.2 billion. The member for Parramatta talks about strings being attached to New South Wales funding. The Labor Party's model was not that it had no strings attached—it had no money attached! If I was a state Treasurer or Premier, I would prefer the money to the strings. The coalition will provide the money to the states and territories, and we will treat them like adults, as they deserve. And they will be answerable to their electors at their election times in the same way as we are answerable to ours.