Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree with the National Catholic Education Commission, which said today that the government's own modelling of its schools plan confirms—and I quote—'hundreds of Catholic schools will be allocated less Commonwealth funding next year, dozens of schools will be hit with a funding cut of 50 per cent or more next year, and almost 200 schools will be allocated less funding in 2027 than they are this year'? These are the department's own figures. Those figures cannot be disputed, and they cannot be manipulated.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our new model of school funding—transparent, consistent, national, needs-based—adds $18.6 billion of funding over the decade. In total, school funding will be $242.3 billion over the decade and, as honourable members are aware, it will rise from in excess of $17 billion this year to over $30 billion in 2017.

The Catholic sector will see an average annual per student increase of 3.5 per cent over the next decade. Ninety-eight per cent of Catholic school students will see growth of more than 3.3 per cent a year from 2017 to 2027. That is well above costs and wages growth. Catholic systemic schools will receive a total of $28.3 billion in Commonwealth recurrent funding over four years, 2018 to 2021, and a total of $81 billion over the 10 years from 2018 to 2027. The Catholic sector has the highest per student Commonwealth funding in every state and territory now and into the future. This represents and reflects student needs and the Commonwealth's role as the majority funder of non-government schools.

The Commonwealth's estimator model demonstrates the basis upon which the funds are determined by the Commonwealth. It is designed to ensure that a school with the same needs will get the same amount of Commonwealth funding, whether it is a Catholic systemic school, an independent Christian school or a non-denominational non-government school. That is what needs-based funding means. As far as the Catholic system is concerned, it is able to reallocate, to determine, the funds that it gets as it wishes. So the Commonwealth is not directing that the funds be allocated in the manner set out in the estimator, but it is disclosing as a matter of honesty, integrity and transparency the needs-based model which delivers the calculation of the funds for the total. So the premise in the honourable member's question is utterly mistaken.