Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to join in this very important debate. I will start by commending the wonderful teachers we have here in the ACT and the wonderful schools we have in the ACT both in the government sector and in the non-government sector. I have had the privilege of attending some of these schools here in the ACT along with my family members both in the public sector and in the non-government sector, and my kids now have the opportunities in these wonderful schools. I commend the teachers here in Canberra and around the country who do such an outstanding job.

I think when we take note of answers it is worth reflecting on the point that the opposition are trying to make in some of their questioning. I have got to say this is a little bit like the first day of school. It is the first day back for us here in the Senate after the summer break. You would think that, having had many weeks to regroup, the Labor Party could have come up with something a little bit better than this. They meandered around about Prime Minister Turnbull's views on the republic, on climate change, on same-sex marriage. When that did not get anywhere, they started asking other questions. I thought, 'What a tired strategy in an election year.' We had the year of ideas last year, which produced some extra ideas for taxes from the Labor Party. You would think that in an election year they would be raring to go. But unfortunately that is not what we saw in question time today.

That brings us to some of Labor's questioning on education funding. This is lazy policy from the Labor Party, and this is policy that they know they cannot deliver. They cannot afford it. They cannot deliver it. They knew it when they were in government, which is why they put it out to years 5 and 6. This is the fundamental issue here. Let us look at the first four years, the four-year cycle of the budget, which is what we deal with, which is what Treasurers deal with and is what governments deal with. It is what the Labor Party had when they were in government and it is what the coalition government has now. Over those four years that we committed to, not only will we match what the Labor Party was going to deliver but we will deliver an extra $1.2 billion—that is a fact. That is the record in terms of the coalition government.

We have seen an increase in funding of 27.3 per cent over the forward estimates, a significant increase in funding. The point has been made that we need significant increased investment in our schools, which we are doing. But that is not the only question as to how you get better outcomes. From the late eighties to around 2011-12 there was a 100 per cent increase in schools funding in Australia, yet we saw many of our outcomes going backwards. It is not the be-all and end-all. Even though we are increasing funding by 27.3 per cent in education over the forward estimates—$1.2 billion more than Labor was going to deliver—that is not the only answer. That is not a whole equation.

It comes down to the credibility of Labor to deliver. The reason they pushed it out up to years 5 and 6 was that they had not done the work; they did not have the money, because they wasted it in government; and they certainly would not have the money if they were ever trusted with the Treasury benches again. You do not have to believe me. Believe Jay Weatherill if you want to know Labor's credibility on funding their education promises. What did Jay Weatherill, the South Australian Labor Premier, say about their plans? He said: … we haven't seen any coherent or sustainable way in which that's going to be funded.

Those are the words of a South Australian Labor Premier. If even your mates in South Australian Labor do not believe you on education funding, how can the Australian people believe you on education funding? Jay Weatherill has called you out. He has said that you cannot fund it, that you have got no plans to fund it. Tinkering with multinationals is not going to fund your plans. You are going to have a budget black hole. This is the fundamental credibility problem Labor have, not just on education but on a whole range of other things. Until they can fix that, they can never be trusted to govern again. (Time expired)