Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question and I acknowledge her longstanding expertise in education. The government is very proud of the money it has invested in schools, whether they be public, private or catholic. As I have already indicated, on our watch investment has doubled. What we are seeing now, if you look at table 2.5 in Budget Paper No. 3, is that in the next four years the government will provide an estimated $20.9 billion to state governments to support state education services in government schools. Of that, $17.8 billion will go to government schools under the national schools special-purpose payments.

I specifically draw the Senate's attention to the fact that we are providing $1.5 billion to lift the performances of the most disadvantaged schools in the Commonwealth. We are investing record levels in all public schools. And this is at the moment—that is, before the Gonski response has been implemented. There are nearly 2.3 million Australian children in those schools—two-thirds of the children of this generation.