Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for that question. I appreciate that the Prime Minister and the premiers have only just held the press conference. I was able to watch a little bit of it before I came in here. Possibly Senator Barnett did not get an opportunity to see that. Quite clearly, the Prime Minister has stated that, firstly, we make no apology at all for investing in schools, something those opposite have been laughing at and making a mockery of. We make no apology. We have signed the states up to the toughest criteria to ensure that there is no substitution—there is no withdrawing of state funds and topping up with Commonwealth funds. That was the agreement that even the Premier of Western Australia signed off on.

I watched as much of that press conference as I could before I came in here. It is quite clear that the COAG communique sets out the responsibilities of state governments. They will not be allowed to withdraw their funding for programs and substitute Commonwealth funding. Let me quote from the communique:

... a process to ensure that there is no substitution of capital effort by the states in the areas of schools, energy-efficient homes, social housing, regional roads, black spots and boom gates, overseen by heads of treasuries and reporting to COAG through the Ministerial Council for Federal Financial Relations.

So there is a very specific commitment that the states have signed up to, and we will be holding them to that. (Time expired)