Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before the election, Tony Abbott, now the Prime Minister, said that the Liberal Party were on an absolute 'unity ticket' when it came to school funding; and the member for Sturt—now, shamefully, the minister responsible for education—said—

An opposition member: There he is.

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

That's me!

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased he is in the House! He said he would remember this:

… you can vote Liberal or Labor and you'll get exactly the same amount of funding for your school.

How's that going, Minister? How's that going? The broken promises, this egregious breach of faith, on education by this government will cost schools in Scullin $201 million—$201 million ripped out of schools in Scullin.

Government members interjecting—

And members opposite add insult to injury with their contemptuous behaviour, compounding the breach of faith. I echo the words of the Victorian education minister, James Merlino, who said:

The funding has been ripped away from our most disadvantaged students, and could have paid for more than 8,000 teachers, or more than 10,000 allied health staff like psychologists, speech pathologists, welfare workers and physiotherapists.

I recently visited Watsonia North Primary School, and Principal Tina King was eager to impress upon me the need for state and federal governments to give schools the full Gonski money. The Andrews Labor government of Victoria has delivered on its part of the funding. It is time for the Abbott government, and the minister, to keep his promise.