Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all the speakers on the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2014 for their contributions to the debate. I would like to take this opportunity to put some facts on the record.

The coalition government is of course absolutely committed to supporting the delivery of quality schooling, and to providing funding and regulatory certainty for all Australian schools. We are committed to making sure every Australian child has the opportunity to reach their potential through a great education. In government, we have invested a record $64.5 billion over four years in schooling. This includes the $1.2 billion this government restored for schools in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory when we came to office in 2013.

We were very clear in the lead-up to the 2013 federal election, including in our Students First policy, that we would maintain the funding arrangements enacted by the 43rd Parliament for the four years from 2014 to 2017. We have kept this commitment through the delivery of funding that is needs-based, and in fact we have exceeded our election commitment by reinstating $1.2 billion that the previous government removed from schools in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

This bill enables additional targeted support for schools, so that we can provide the much-needed services to support Indigenous boarding school students. This money was provided in the budget by the Abbott government in response to a shortfall not addressed by the previous government. The bill creates a new mechanism to make payments to schools in prescribed circumstances. The supporting regulations will prescribe the specific Indigenous boarding circumstances that will attract the funding support and the matters the minister is to have regard to in making payments. Regulations for prescribed circumstances will be subject to review and disallowance by the parliament.

The Indigenous Boarding Initiative, announced as part of the 2014-15 budget, will provide funding support of $6.8 million in 2014 for non-government schools with more than 50 Indigenous boarding students from remote or very remote areas, or where 50 per cent or more of their boarding students are Indigenous and from remote or very remote areas. This additional funding will assist non-government boarding schools to provide these students with a high quality education and educational support.

We are providing more funding for students with disabilities than ever before, including an extra $100 million in the funding loading for students next year. As part of this, the bill provides funding certainty for certain independent special schools and special assistance schools that would otherwise see their funding reduced to the schooling resource standard from 2015. This was a significant oversight from the 43rd Parliament that would have seen more than $2.4 million removed from these schools. This bill restores these funds, and these schools will now transition towards the schooling resource standard consistent with other schools. The bill corrects the location loading for schools to ensure the proper identification of inner regional schools, and inserts the final 2014 amount for capital funding for block grant authorities.

While we negotiate with states and territories and the non-government schools sector on the command and control aspects of the act, the bill amends the Australian Education (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2013 to extend to 1 January 2016, or a later date determined by the minister by legislative instrument, the commencement of school improvement planning requirements under the act. This is to provide regulatory certainty to schools while consultations with stakeholders occur in relation to possible adjustments to this requirement.

This bill provides additional funding support for remote Indigenous students, prevents funding reductions for schools catering to students with a disability, delivers regulatory certainty and improves the overall operation of the act. Taking action to address these will strengthen the legislative framework that underpins the Australian government's significant investment in schools and contributes to improving the quality of school education in Australia.

I would also say in closing that the good name of the Chancellor or the University of New South Wales, David Gonski, was invoked repeatedly by people in the chamber in earlier debate and again today. In relation to some of Mr Gonski's observations concerning education, it will be interesting to see how those opposite deal with this quote:

I think that the government are correct in this—

The deregulation of university fees—

and I think that there is a real chance that the deregulation of fees — rather than making universities richer and so on — that they could produce further monies from doing that to be ploughed back to make them even greater … To improve the student experience, have higher teacher-student ratios, etc.

Those are the words of Mr Gonski, the Chancellor of UNSW, much vaunted, much held up by those opposite as an expert in Australian education. It will be interesting to see which lines those opposite draw on that particular matter.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.