Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I do understand that the independent schools receive money from the Commonwealth, and I am glad that the minister has confirmed that his estimate of the secondary figure is as we expect it to be—that is, about $9,000 per student—and that he also accepts that year 11 and 12 students are more expensive. We could add on to that that VET students are even more expensive again because of the technology and so on that they require.

I will run through the figures. If this school in Townsville were to receive the same rate of Commonwealth support as a Catholic systemic school, it would be receiving about $5,200 a student. State recurrent funding would be about $2,000 a student. That gets us up to around $7,000 to $7,500 a student, so we are a bit short. The department has advised the Senate estimates committee that this college will not be charging fees. The answer to the question that we asked in Senate estimates indicates that the fees for this college will be nil. The point of all of this is that, as the minister has confirmed, secondary school students need at least $9,000 a student. For years 11 and 12, they could need an additional $2,000 a student, yet this school, by the government’s own figures, will only be getting $7,500 a student. I would ask how much extra is going to go to this school in Townsville from the Australian technical college fund per student if it is the case that they are paying nil fees.

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