Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Schools have gone back across the country—preps and year 7s. We've had the commercial television stations with beautiful footage of kids starting primary school and secondary school. We've also been blasted by a government advertising campaign for its cheap discount-quality schools program that is selling out our kids. There are 58 schools in Lalor that have returned this year, and they are starting this year $8 million short, this year alone, on what Labor would deliver. That is $365½ million short for the state of Victoria across the next two years.

Eighty-six per cent of the Turnbull government's cuts are to the state sector. Low-fee Catholic schools will have 12 per cent of cuts. Independent schools, including some elite high-fee schools, will get two per cent of cuts. This is just not good enough from this government. It's not good enough at all. We need a Labor government to deliver the appropriate level of funding for our schools—the level of funding that our kids deserve and that our country needs—and a chance at equity and a chance for every child in this country to get the same sort of start.