George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much indeed, Senator Collins. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to advise the Senate about the Australian government's commitment to school funding. You asked for information; here it is.

This government is making a record overall investment of $73.9 billion in recurrent funding for schools over the next four years, 2016-17 to 2019-20. Indeed, our funding will grow each and every year from $16.1 billion in 2016 to $20.2 billion in 2020. That is an increase of more than 25 per cent in just four years. In fact, Australian government funding for schools has been increasing for several decades. Between 1987-88 and 2011-12, total public funding for schools doubled in real terms while student enrolments increased by only 18 per cent. But I am sorry to say that, while our funding has been growing, our results have been in decline. How much funding we provide is important, but what is more important is what we do with it. Funding should go where it is needed most and should be used in ways that we know will deliver results.

We know that our friends from the Australian Labor Party, like Senator Collins and her colleagues, have this faith that the more money you throw at an issue the better off you are, but we in the coalition know that what you need is outcomes, and outcomes are not measured only by the amount of money you throw at them but by the actual outcomes in which you invest. And, in the case of education, that means in particular academic standards.