Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is going up every single year, Member for Longman, and schools in your electorate—and in the member for Moreton's electorate—will be better off for it. I know that in my own electorate, schools are particularly benefiting. I have spoken to the principals, and they have said to me it is great to see the extra funding. Schools like Bounty Boulevard State School, Mango Hill State School, Redcliffe State High School and Aspley State High School have had massive increases in education funding under the coalition. The principal at Aspley State High School, Jacquita Miller, is doing a wonderful job down there.

So I would beg to differ; I would say that school funding is continuing to go up. We know that we took to the last election a plan for growth. It is not just about more funding; we have to make sure that funding is sustainable in the long term. When the member for Sydney talks about a $50 billion tax cut, she does not look at the increased revenue—cutting company tax to make us competitive around the world will bring in extra income tax that will enable us to go into the future. The member for Sydney slurred the government when she said we do not care about kids. Guess what, member for Sydney? I have three children of my own, and the member for Mitchell has one and another one on the way. We do care about kids. I thought that was a disgraceful slur.

I would also say that we are improving STEM. There has been record investment in STEM. We will continue to do that. I have full confidence that the education minister, the honourable Simon Birmingham, will get this right. The opposition should work together with us, rather than be political on this issue, to ensure that our kids have a bright future. (Time expired)

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