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

I can inform Senator Pratt that, whilst I do not have it in front of me, I am very much aware that the budget papers last year made it very clear that the proposed distribution of funding, that I am pretty sure no other Labor senator will come in here and suggest should have been adhered to, was indicative only and was to be the subject of the development of future funding models. I challenge Senator Pratt to find anywhere where I quoted those figures, or used those figures, or where the government promoted those figures anywhere, without the very strong caveats that were contained in those budget papers. But I do emphasise to Senator Pratt that Western Australian government schools do, under the proposal that the Turnbull government has brought forward, receive far and away the greatest growth for government schools anywhere in the country—some 7.3 per cent per student growth over the next four years under the government's proposal; growth that is well in excess of anywhere else and reflective of the fact that Western Australia got such a raw deal under the Gillard government proposals and that we are committed over the transition period proposed in our bill to catch Western Australia up to all other jurisdictions.