Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Farrell for his question, because I am confident that we will deliver fair, consistent, needs based school funding across Australia—that we will put in place the types of measures that the Labor Party commissioned. It was the Labor Party who went out and asked David Gonski and a panel to come up with a report talking about how it is we can fund all Australian schools fairly. It was the Labor Party who then received that report. But what did they do? They put in place 27 different special deals and special arrangements and so on.

What the Turnbull government have been seeking to do is make sure that we take additional funding, $18.6 billion of additional funding, that we invest it across Australian schools and that we do so in a manner fair and according to need, that has received endorsement from David Gonski himself, and that in doing that we provide the additional resources and support that children in schools of need across every education system—