David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (4) on sheet 8165:

(1) Schedule 1, item 5, page 3 (line 23), omit ", or prescribed under,".

[SRS indexation factor set by Act]

(2) Schedule 1, item 8, page 4 (lines 18 to 21), omit subsection 11A(1), substitute:

(1) The SRS indexation factor for a year is the number worked out under subsection (2) for the year.

[No minimum SRS indexation factor]

(3) Schedule 1, item 8, page 4 (line 22) to page 5 (line 7), omit subsection 11A(2), substitute:

(2) The number is worked out using the following formula:

where:

base quarter means the June quarter in the previous year.

consumer index number, for a quarter, means the All Groups Consumer Price Index number (being the weighted average of the 8 capital cities) published by the Australian Statistician for that quarter.

reference quarter means the June quarter in the year.

(4) Schedule 1, item 8, page 5 (lines 19 to 22), omit subsections 11A(5) and (6).

I also oppose schedule 1 in the following terms:

(5) Schedule 1, item 38, page 12 (lines 4 to 6), to be opposed.

Items 1 and 4 remove the minister's power to prescribe the indexation factor for the schooling resource standard. The minister has flagged that he intends to set the indexation factor at 3.56 per cent in the coming years. This is unwarranted. The schooling resource standard is an amount of funding considered appropriate for a student, so it should be indexed so as to maintain that valuation and not accelerate it.

Item 2 removes a three per cent floor on the indexation factor for the schooling resource standard. A floor for the indexation factor is again unwarranted. The value of the standard should be maintained, not accelerated.

Item 3 ensures that the school resourcing standard is indexed in line with the CPI to maintain its real value. The standard should not rise to reflect wages growth. Growth in excess of CPI would only be warranted if teacher productivity improved. Such an improvement in productivity is not a condition of funding under the government's proposal.

Item 5 ensures that, when considering the indexation of capital grants, the minister need not consider a wages index. Instead, he will need to consider an index of building prices and the growth of student numbers. I commend the amendments to the Senate.