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

Given that vocational and technical education and universities are getting indexation of two per cent it does not say much about higher education under this government. Given that the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education is going to get back to me about that, I will leave that issue. I have a couple of other issues. The minister may have seen the state Liberal spokesperson from New South Wales, Mr Brad Hazzard, saying that if the Liberal-National coalition won the next election in New South Wales A to E reporting would not be used to report on children up to year 3 and that local communities would choose how to report on students in years 4 to 6. The spokesperson has come out and said that he will not do what the federal government has required the states to do. Would such a decision by a New South Wales state Liberal government—obviously a big assumption about whether or not they will win the state election—mean that the federal minister would withhold funding from New South Wales public schools? If that is the case, what is the total value of grants to New South Wales public schools that would be put at risk if the A to E reporting requirement was not met, as was suggested by the Liberal spokesperson in New South Wales?

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