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

I thank Senator Fawcett for his question and, indeed, his ongoing interest in relation to the Turnbull government's record in growing investment in support of Australian schools—in support of schools, teachers and, ultimately, students to achieve their best and to have the support necessary to do so. Senator Fawcett, in terms of the growth figures that you ask for, across government schools around the country over the next four years, there'll be growth of some 6.4 per cent per student in federal funding. In total, over the four-year period, funding will grow by almost 28 per cent and, over the decade, by almost 80 per cent. In the non-government schooling sector, there will similarly be growth of around 4½ per cent per student over the next four years, or around 18 per cent over that time frame, and over the decade there will be growth of about 56 per cent. Overall, on average, the additional investment in support for students to get the learning assistance that they require is around $2,370 extra per student through that time frame. That, of course, is based on need, which is why we see faster growth in support for students with disability and faster growth for students from Indigenous backgrounds.

This all stands in stark contrast to those opposite, whose approach to school funding was not to play by need but to play by favourites instead. Their approach was to ditch the concept of needs based funding in favour of special deals, in favour of playing favourites. Now what we get from those opposite, devoid as they are of policy, is that they run around the country peddling claims of non-existent policies. Can Labor turn up in any state and say what their school-funding policy is anymore? No, they cannot. Can they turn up in any school and say how much they would provide to that school nowadays? No, they cannot. Will they provide any commitment that they won't do future special deals? No, they won't.

Senator Jacinta Collins interjecting—