David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Also, having a really strong curriculum is what will deliver runs, in the educational sense, to Australian students. We want our PISA results to be going up. We want to catch up with our Asian neighbours to the north, who seem to be going ahead in leaps and bounds. There has been a rejuvenation and an interest in the evidence base on the benefits of phonics for reading, simple arithmetic skills and a narrative in history and social sciences—all those things that build knowledge in young people. They are all so important. But let us just remind everyone of one thing. There are no cuts. It is just a play on words. Figures announced show that there is going to be an extra $1½ billion. Over the forward estimates that will be a 3.65 per cent increase. There has already been a 27 per cent increase in Commonwealth spending over the term of this government. We have honoured what we said we would spend under Gonski, and we are committed to getting better educational outcomes.

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