Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was very entertaining listening to that speech by the member for Chifley. He would make a very good fiction writer, because so much of what came out of his mouth this evening was just that—fiction. If you look at the facts and at the economic record of this government, you see that it is very damning. When you consider this legislation, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2011-2012 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2011-2012, the contrast between the Labor government's record—or, to state it more correctly, the Labor-Greens alliance government—and the coalition's record is stark. We were able to repay Labor's debt of $96 billion and to deliver a surplus of $20 billion. They have delivered a net debt of over $133 billion. They have delivered four deficits of an accumulated amount of $167 billion. They have needed to lift the gross debt ceiling from $75 billion to $250 billion. They have sought to increase taxes and to introduce 19 new taxes, and they have had significant cost blow-outs in the various programs, including the most famous program of all when you talk about bad economic management, where you do not even have a cost-benefit analysis of something as supposedly significant as the NBN project, which is starting at $27 billion but will go so much higher than that.

This government have increased spending; they have not decreased spending. For all their talk about decreasing spending, the government have increased spending by over $100 billion and that is now going to be part of the structural deficit built into this budget. Every man, woman and child in this country, because of the government's borrowings, is owing $6,000. If you ask Australians whether they are better off because of the economic management of the government, they will say a resounding no to that question.

Today I came into this chamber to talk about an issue that is concerning to the people of my electorate—that is, the review of school funding. As we are aware, the Gonski review has now been completed and we are all waiting to see how the government will respond to the review's recommendations. It is very important, because this review goes to the heart of how our schools operate. It goes to the heart of school funding. As such, its recommendations and how the government respond to those recommendations will shape not only the funding agreements for non-government schools post 2013 but the educational options and outcomes available to Australian families for many more school generations to come.

The government have spoken a great deal in this place about education and revolution: Building the Education Revolution or the Digital Educational Revolution. However, the Australian people should not be in any doubt that the Gillard government's response to the Gonski review will have at its heart the real revolution that this government wants to see in education.

While we are yet to see the review recommendations, as the member for Higgins I am already deeply concerned about the Gillard government's rhetoric and indeed their real agenda on the issue of school funding—and I am not alone. I received a letter only the other day from the principal of one of the schools in my electorate. It read:

The parents and families of the 500-plus students attending our school have begun a new school year with excitement.

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