Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has finally admitted that he was wrong to cut funding from Catholic and independent schools. Why won't the Prime Minister also admit he was wrong to cut $14 billion from public schools? Why won't the Prime Minister join with Labor to reverse his cuts to public schools so that every child can get the best start in life no matter which school they go to?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for her question, because it gives me the opportunity to let the House know that the government is providing record levels of funding to schools, and that is growing every year. Commonwealth funding for state schools was $6.8 billion last year. It will be $7.3 billion this year, it will be $7.9 billion next year and it will be $8.6 billion the year after that. From 2017 to 2027, Commonwealth funding to state schools will grow by 86 per cent. According to the Productivity Commission, since 2006, on a per-student basis, Commonwealth funding to state schools has increased by 78.5 per cent.