Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) acknowledges that:

  (i) in 2013, the Commonwealth Government recognised that our schools desperately needed to be resourced properly, and signed agreements with the states to provide that much needed funding,

  (ii) the Prime Minister's new education funding plan:

(A) cuts $17 billion from Australian schools,

(B) originally did not include any requirement for any state government to increase their school funding, and

(C) cancels the current New South Wales agreement on schools funding, locking in a lower 2017 level of funding for the next ten years,

  (iii) these cuts mean:

(A) larger class sizes,

(B) fewer specialist teachers for literacy and numeracy,

(C) less support for students with disabilities and behaviour issues, and

(D) reduced training and development for teachers,

(b) calls on the government to commit to the full, original Gonski needs-based funding model, designed to give schools the resources required to deliver high quality education for all students – noting that this model has been a great success for public schools; and

(c) notes the importance of elected representatives listening to their communities, and thanks the concerned parents and citizens who contacted senators to encourage them to:

  (i) take a stand for public education,

  (ii) vote against the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017, and

  (iii) properly fund the Gonski reforms put in place by the Commonwealth Government in 2013.