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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Today's newspapers report, 'Confidence in Libs lost'. Catholics have officially declared war on government.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition knows the rules on props.

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

When Catholics schools have declared war on this Liberal government over its $4.6 billion cut to children in Catholic schools, isn't it time for the Prime Minister to drop his cuts for good, to go back to the drawing board, to start again and to replace this failure of a government schools policy.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the House will cease interjecting.

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

The honourable member talks about Labor's schools policy, and they talk about all of the funny money—the fantasy money—that they promised. They knew that they did not have the money there in the dying days of the Gillard government. They made all these promises. They never paid for it. They do not know how to pay for it. They conned Australians with 27 secret deals that produced the absolute antithesis of what David Gonski recommended. What they did was produce a situation where funding was not needs based because it varied from school to school in different systems in different states regardless of need. They did it in a manner that was utterly inconsistent. So the same school in one state would get different funding to one in another. It was one separate deal after another.

What Gonski called for—and he was right—was national, consistent, transparent, needs-based funding. That is what we have delivered. Every part of the Australian education sector—the public sector, the Catholic sector, the independents—will receive more funding over the decade; in total $18.6 billion. That is real money; that is paid for; that is funded. That is the difference. Labor fantasised. We got into the businesses of financing. Fantasies, promises and illusions without the resources are just a hallucination. That is what Labor delivered—a hallucination that set out to deceive Australian students. We are delivering.

The member for Grayndler was there waxing eloquent and full of criticism. Let us see what the author of the Gonski panel, the leader, said about our policy.

… I'm … pleased to hear that the Turnbull Government has accepted the fundamental recommendations of our 2011 report, and particularly regarding a needs-based situation.

…   …   …

… I'm … pleased that there is substantial additional money, even over indexation and in the foreseeable future.

Ken Boston, another member of the review, said:

There are no grounds for opposition to the schools funding bill in principle …

…   …   …

It will be a tragedy if the school funding bill is voted down in the Senate.

Kathryn Greiner, another member of the Gonski review, said:

This is the first time a government in this country has drawn a line in the sand, removed the funding anomalies and got everybody on the same page.

…   …   …

Gonski 2.0 delivers what the Gonski report wanted: an accountable, transparent, equitable, sector-blind funding formula.

That is our commitment—fairness, needs based, transparent, consistent. That is what Gonski recommended. That is what our children deserve. That is what Labor denied them.