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

I thank Senator Williams for his question and his continued interest in school funding, particularly in New South Wales and especially in rural and regional communities of New South Wales. I'm pleased to inform the Senate that updated figures, as of 17 November, which take account of the latest 2017 school census data, demonstrate that over the next decade there will be record funding to Australian schools from the Commonwealth totalling $250 billion. That's $250 billion! That is an increase, going into next year, over the next decade of some $25.3 billion over and above what last year's or previous years' budget projections had forecast.

It's a demonstration that our needs based funding formula is providing growing investment in Australian schools, investment that will grow from some $1½ billion this year in 2017 to some $31 billion by 2027. That is strong growth well above any rate of inflation. It continues a trend of the federal government enhancing investment in our school system, even while states and territories have neglected those school systems. From 2005-06 to 2014-15, federal funding grew by 72 per cent in real terms, while state and territory funding only grew by 9.4 per cent. Sometimes that state and territory funding even went backwards—I think of the period around 2010 in the state of New South Wales when state funding for their schools declined by some $316 million. Who was the Premier of New South Wales in 2010 when funding was cut to New South Wales schools by the New South Wales government? That's right, it was Premier Kristina Keneally, who is now the Labor candidate for Bennelong. She now wants to talk about school funding endlessly, but when she had the chance to do so, she cut school funding. (Time expired)