Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Hansard source

The Howard government believes that there must be choice, there must be values, there must be standards and there must be greater national consistency in education in this country. Education is the fundamental, essential and enduring building block upon which to build a prosperous economy and social cohesiveness. We must strive for higher standards in our schools. We must ensure that school students are given the best possible opportunities in life. We need to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education from high-quality teachers in a high-quality environment. This requires a greater focus on higher standards in curriculum, greater national consistency, rewards and incentives for teachers and more autonomy for school principals. The Australian government will continue to show leadership in this regard. Australian parents do not want a revolution. They do not want all these rhetorical words that mean nothing. They want their children to have access to a quality education.

Let me first talk about the funding facts, and focus on why increased funding has not necessarily meant that standards are increasing. This is where the difference between the coalition and Labor is so stark. Labor just throw money at problems; we find solutions. We know that increased taxpayer investment has led to higher standards and greater quality in our schools, in our universities and in vocational and technical education. We have provided record funding to state government schools every year since 1996. It has increased every year, and that is a fact. Australian government funding to state government schools has increased by almost 120 per cent since 1996. In the same period, state government school enrolments have increased at just over one per cent. We are investing a record $33 billion in school education over four years, between 2005 and 2008.

It is a fact that Labor cannot ignore: state governments, of whatever persuasion, own, run and provide most of the funding for state government schools, and the Commonwealth provides supplementary funding. The opposition continue to ignore the fact that federal funding for state government schools is calculated as a percentage of the state’s investment, and it has been for decades. So if the state governments increase their investment, the federal investment increases automatically. I am going to come back to that.

The Australian government is also providing record increases in funding in the area of higher education. In fact, this year there is over a 26 per cent real increase on 1995. We have increased taxpayer subsidised places to record levels and we have more Australian undergraduates at university than at any time in our history. Almost a million students are now at university.

You want to quote OECD figures. Why don’t you quote the figure that 35 per cent of Australian 19-year-olds are engaged in tertiary education? That is seven per cent higher than the OECD average. Why don’t you quote the statistic that 31 per cent of Australians aged 25 to 64 have tertiary qualifications? Compare that with the OECD average of 25 per cent—seven or eight per cent more. Labor have been peddling a myth; they have been selectively quoting OECD data that tertiary education funding fell by seven per cent between 1995 and 2003. That is not true, and Labor know it.

The member for Perth has form in quoting selectively, and he is doing it again. The OECD figures that Labor are quoting exclude three-quarters of our funding for vocational education and training, and ignore taxpayer subsidies for students. And, even if we use their own figures, Australia’s tertiary expenditure increased by 25 per cent in real terms between 1995 and 2003. But these are out-of-date figures; they only go to 2003. Labor is excluding the Backing Australia’s Future reforms in 2004, which will see the sector $11 billion better off over the decade. They are ignoring the $560 million in last year’s budget and the $837 million in the Skills for the Future package.

Our universities, consequently, are in a strong financial position. In 2004-05 we saw our universities’ total revenue increasing by over eight per cent to almost $14 billion and their operating result increasing by 36 per cent to almost $838 million. Total federal government funding increased by over nine per cent and net assets increased by over seven per cent to over $25 billion. I am talking about our universities. Our universities’ cash and investments grew by almost 18 per cent to $7 billion. That is what our universities have, today, in cash and investments. Yet state Labor governments have ripped out more than $150 million in payroll tax—more than they provide in support to the universities. Has the member for Perth ever called on his mates in state Labor governments to abolish the payroll tax that they impose on universities and stop ripping off the universities to the tune of $150 million? They are taking out more from universities than they put in. I want to see the member for Perth stand up and take on state Labor governments and tell them to stop ripping off our universities.

In the vocational and technical education area Australian government funding has increased by 88 per cent in real terms since 1996, and this year we are providing over $2.6 billion. There are more than 400,000 apprentices in training today. That is an almost 160 per cent increase since we came to government. Now, 400,000 Australians are getting the opportunity to get a trade so that they can get work and have a career. We have heard the Minister for Vocational and Further Education today say that we are setting up 25 Australian technical colleges with strong industry linkages. These colleges are going to have greater autonomy to drive up standards. We have practical solutions and we are working with business and industry, and parents, students and teachers to drive up standards.

If the member for Perth wants to have a debate about funding, let us look at the funding that state Labor governments are providing for their schools. I ask the member for Perth to take these figures into account during his fireside chats when he sits around with his mates from state Labor governments. I think he will be interested to know that in 2006-07 the New South Wales state government increased funding for their schools by 3.9 per cent. The Australian government’s increase in funding for New South Wales schools was 10.7 per cent.

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