Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

No, Gonski did not endorse any of these changes. What he said with relief is that finally the Commonwealth government has accepted that there should be a needs based funding formula. He would not have been aware at that point in time of the diddling that has occurred here.

He certainly would not be aware of the third measure that is in direct contrast with Gonski, and that is with respect to a parent's capacity to pay. Gonski was very careful about those measures and the shape of that formula, and the minister has ridden roughshod right over it. The direct target of those changes—and I bet in the party room no-one asked the minister about the shape of the curve here—are parish Catholic schools. Why, I wonder, do government members and senators not understand enough of these issues to even directly confront their minister? They should.

Let us go to the first of these, the Gonski recommendation for a more balanced funding arrangement. The government will be embedding the 80-20 funding split between the states and the Commonwealth, with the states and territories bearing the largest share of funding for government schools. As I said, this is in direct contrast to Gonski. Let me read recommendation 22 from his report:

The Australian Government and the states and territories, in consultation with the non-government sector, should negotiate more balanced funding roles as part of the transition to a new funding model for all schools, with the Australian Government assuming a greater role in the funding of government schools and the states in relation to non-government schools.

This was how he proposed we end the funding wars, and these measures will not get anywhere near to achieving that result. In fact, these measures reignite that war. These measures not only damage the delivery of Catholic education in Australia but damage any consensus, any capacity for all of our school sectors to work together in the future.

I will start on the next measure now, but I am indebted to Senator Roberts for his MPI today, because it will give me the opportunity to fully cover all these differences with the real Gonski. Let me start on the next one. Gonski actually endorsed the system weighted average arrangements that are in the funding model. These are the changes that this government is making that again attack Catholic education systems. It is important to understand that the 2011 Gonski review—this book of Gonski—strongly supported the student weighted average system. Let me quote from page 181 of the report: