Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to take the substantial basis of that question and report back to the member for Jagajaga in due course. At the end of it, this government, this budget and the documents before us have voted almost an extra $1 billion towards the task of higher education in schools, science and training. This is a government that has had a record level of commitment now, over the 10 years it has been in office, to a massive spending spree on education. There has never been a government like this when it comes to education, science and training as far as the level of expenditure is concerned—expenditure that is well targeted and trusts local communities. One billion dollars is to be invested in the Investing in Our Schools program, delivering to both the state school sector and the non-government sector and to the parents in those sectors a chance to invest directly in their schools.

I suspect that no matter what the member for Jagajaga might like to ask, the answer is not going to satisfy her. The government have increased expenditure in this portfolio to record numbers. We have, I think, taken upon ourselves very plainly a sense of national cooperation and national leadership. What is important from our point of view is that the states keep up, and whether the states are able to keep up with our leadership on this is an issue for individual states. It is understood that the overall partnership in training and in schools is a partnership with the state governments—constitutionally, they have direct responsibility for it. We are a part player in it but we are a part player in the sense that we can provide national leadership that can fashion national outcomes on a state-by-state basis.

See this speech in context