Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education. Will the minister update the House on how the government is providing record funding to government, Catholic and independent schools, including in my electorate of Berowra? What are the risks and what is at stake if this commitment to providing choice in education is put at risk?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for his question because he knows how important education is to his electorate. He also knows that the government is providing record funding for state schools, record funding for Catholic schools and record funding for independent schools. As a matter of fact, the government is providing a record $309.6 billion investment in recurrent funding to all Australian schools from 2018 to 2029. The government's spending is growing fastest for state schools, at 6.3 per cent per student each year from 2019 to 2023, compared to per student growth of 5.1 per cent for the nongovernment sector. Importantly, this is real needs based funding. It will mean students that need the most support will get the most support.

Our focus on this side of the chamber is now turning to results, to outcomes. Money is only the means for us to achieve our goal, and our goal is for every Australian child to have an education that teaches them deep subject knowledge, essential literacy and numeracy skills and gives them the ability to achieve their potential. That is why our government is working with state and territory governments to deliver the reforms that will improve education outcomes.

At the recent education council it was agreed to progress the National School Reform Agreement. This will deliver reforms in areas where national collaboration will have the greatest impact and builds on the current national reforms. This includes the creation of a unique student identifier that will allow students, parents and teachers to view lifelong progress in education. This reform will provide an incredible resource for the whole education sector to identify problems and opportunities. Learning progressions will provide support for teachers to teach the curriculum in a way that best suits individual students. Every child will get a year's worth of learning for every year in education.

I'm asked: what are the risks to this approach? We all know what the risk to this approach is. It is $200 billion in taxes that those opposite want to put on the Australian economy, which will strangle the Australian economy, which will strangle jobs growth, which will strangle receipts into the Treasury and which will mean that those opposite will not be able to afford to pay for the education that our students so desperately need.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.