Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

What we are seeing here, of course, is an attempt by the Manager of Opposition Business to stop the quotes from the member for Adelaide being read out. David Lipson went on to say: 'Isn't it a bit hollow, though, to call on the government to do that if you're not committed to doing it yourself?' It is a very good question. The member for Adelaide said, 'Well, obviously we'll make a budget reply in a few weeks time.' Well, they did that in 2014. It did not mention school funding. They had another budget reply this year, in 2015—no mention of school funding. The shadow Treasurer has been asked about it time and time again and not committed to any extra funding for schools. The member for Port Adelaide was asked about it by the union and the Labor states and territories in The Australian a couple of weeks ago, in a very good story by Sarah Martin from The Australian, from our great state of South Australia. Again, he obfuscated. The Leader of the Opposition has been asked about it by Neil Mitchell on radio. He refuses to commit to it. So we are seeing the hollowness of Labor's campaign, the hypocrisy of their latest scare campaign, demanding of the government something they will not commit to themselves, whereas we are increasing funding. We are increasing funding over the next four years, and students will be the better for it, but they will also be the better for us focusing on the basics that matter.

See this speech in context