Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting this amendment. Let me be clear about what the now government said before the election, when we were in opposition. The now Prime Minister said:

… Labor remains committed, working with state and territory governments, to getting every school to 100 per cent of its fair funding level.

That was at the Press Club on 25 January 2022. As shadow minister, the member for Sydney said on Insiders on 8 May 2022, 'We need the states and territories to increase their effort as we would increase our effort to get every school up to 100 per cent of its fair funding level.' That was what was said by us in opposition.

The focus of this bill is the missing five per cent of the school resourcing standard. The four per cent is used by states to fund a mix of things, including school transport and early childhood education costs. It's a matter for the states whether they wish to claim that four per cent or not.