Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I recognise Senator Allman-Payne's commitment to public education as a former teacher, but I want to put on the record that I did not appreciate the slight against our government, because the previous coalition government nearly doubled annual school funding, from $13 billion in 2013 to $25.3 billion in 2022. I think it's also important to point out that the funding shortfall, to be fair, is actually not the responsibility of the Commonwealth under the existing legislation. So, Senator Allman-Payne, you really should be looking at the states which have fallen well short of their contribution.

I think it's really important that anyone listening to this debate or reading the Hansard understands the facts that, under the current Gonski funding model, the Commonwealth was meeting its 20 per cent share and that there were dramatic shortfalls in funding but the shortfalls were not the responsibility of the Commonwealth; they were the responsibility of the states and the Northern Territory. The only jurisdiction meeting its Gonski funding commitment to government schools was the ACT. So I think it is very important to put those facts on the record.