Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Energy representing the Minister for Education and Training. Will the minister update the House on how the government's Gonski needs based funding will support students and teachers at schools in my electorate? And is the minister aware of any threats to the government's plans to deliver fairer and long-term funding certainty for parents and schools around Australia?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forde for his question and know that he welcomes the Turnbull government's commitment to increasing funding for schools. The 41 schools in the member for Forde's electorate will get $1.95 billion to 2027. Upper Coomera State College, with over 2,000 students—a state school—will get $19 million. They will be like the other 9,000-plus schools that will get additional funding under the Turnbull government's reform to school education. There is $18.6 billion over the next decade—a 75 per cent increase. There will be more money for the independent sector, more money for the Catholic sector and more money for the government sector. Indeed, the Catholic sector is getting an additional $1.2 billion. This is a needs based system. This is a transparent system. This is a nationally consistent system. Indeed, we are adding emphasis on excellence, too, and that is what David Gonski has undertaken a review for.

I would have loved to have been in the Leader of the Opposition's office when he saw that third podium being filled by David Gonski when he joined the minister for education and the Prime Minister for that announcement. Indeed, the government's announcement has been welcomed by the Grattan Institute, by the Association of Christian Schools, by the Primary Principals Association and by the Council of State School Organisations. They have all welcomed it. Indeed, this is what the head of the Association of Christian schools has said: 'We'd like to loudly applaud a policy approach that is good for all schools.' He said, 'Well done for providing a model that can be applied fairly across all sectors and jurisdictions.' That is from the Australian Association of Christian Schools.

I am asked: am I aware of any alternative approaches? Well, we know that the member for Sydney is not really focused on education anymore. We know, because the member for Grayndler is out of the blocks. He is out of the box. The baton is out of his knapsack. We saw the ReachTEL poll, and the ReachTEL poll had the poor member for Watson down at 8½ per cent and the poor member for McMahon at 8½ per cent. The Leader of the Opposition could only get 26 per cent, and the member for Grayndler could get 26.2 per cent. But who got 30.7 per cent? The member for Sydney. So you might be focused on 27 separate deals for education. You might be focusing on pulling money out, as you did with PEFO in 2013. Only we can deliver better schools funding, and we will do it as a coalition government under the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.