Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take the interjection from members opposite. They are saying, 'Rubbish!' It is not rubbish, because in the original formula some very wealthy schools were actually meant to lose some of their funding or to have some of their funding stagnate. Julia Gillard and the Labor Party panicked. They did not have the courage to implement the true Gonski needs-based funding model. And now we are fixing that mess. I am incredibly proud of what we are doing with needs-based funding. It is wonderful to see Gonski 2.0 being implemented by our government.

I want to reflect particularly on some of the Catholic schools in Corangamite and some of the increases that they will be receiving over the next 10 years. Sacred Heart, Colac, in 2017—$4.007 million and a total over 10 years of $48.5 million, which is an increase of $8.456 million; St Aloysius' School, Queenscliff—$1.18 million this year from the Commonwealth and a total of $14.4 million over 10 years, which is an increase of $2.5 million; St Brendan's Catholic Primary School, Coragulac—$570,000 this year and a total of $6.9 million over 10 years, which is an increase of $1.204 million; and Trinity College, which is a wonderful secondary Catholic school in Colac—$9.6 million this year from the Commonwealth $9.6 million and a total of $116 million over 10 years, which is an increase of $20.378 million.

I have been contacted by some parents from Trinity College concerned about their funding, and I want to reiterate to them that, of all the schools in Corangamite—and this is based on the Schooling Resource Standard and trying to deliver a fair and level playing field—Trinity receives more money per student than any other school in Corangamite. In 2017, each student receives $13,172 from the Commonwealth and in 2017 this will rise to $18,416 per student. This is a great outcome for Trinity College in Colac. This is a very substantial increase—$116 million in total over 10 years, which is an increase in excess of $20 million .What does this funding allow all schools to do when it comes to planning their future? It allows them to plan their future with certainty. The schools know that this funding is actually embedded in legislation. It starts—not in years 5 and 6, like Labor did, in the never-never—from 1 January 2018.

Today I am meeting with the principals of Colac Secondary College, Simon Dewar, and Sandra Eglezos, who is the new principal of Belmont High School. I am very pleased that, over 10 years, Belmont High School, which is another incredible school in Corangamite, will be receiving an additional $10 million from the Commonwealth, recognising of course that the majority, 80 per cent, of funding for government schools comes from the states. So we are the minority funder—heading towards 20 per cent. Colac Secondary College, led by the wonderful and very enthusiastic Ian Dewar, will receive an additional $5.45 million over 10 years.

I am incredibly proud of what this bill delivers. It delivers certainty. It delivers fairness. It delivers transparency. Every single school and every parent can now go onto the schools estimator website and look at what their school will receive not only this year or next year but also over the next 10 years. For the first time, schools will now be able to properly plan long term.

I was at the Christian schools gala dinner at Parliament House on Monday night. I sat with the principal of Covenant College in North Geelong, which has a lot of students from Corangamite. I know that schools like Covenant are very pleased with this certainty, with this funding model. One of the plans Covenant has is to provide more funding for those students with a disability. They have some incredible ideas and they really welcome the opportunity to plan long term.

I want to reflect on the comments of Craig Emerson, former Labor minister for tertiary education, in TheAustralian Financial Review on 23 May 2017. Craig Emerson worked very closely with former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in the previous Parliament. He said:

Now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lock in a school-funding system that can give every disadvantaged child a chance of a good education, and Labor has pledged to block it. It’s heartbreaking.

This is a former Labor minister for tertiary education who worked very closely alongside former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in the previous Labor government. He says it is absolutely heartbreaking that we see 10 years of funding certainty, a plan that delivers fairness, and Labor has pledged to block it. He has now basically revealed Labor members for what they are. They will stand in the way of any good policy. It does not matter what we bring to this parliament, the Labor Party is there to do one job and that is to oppose. It is very regrettable that the Labor Party is opposing this policy. It is wonderful for school students, it is wonderful for parents and it is wonderful for this nation. I commend the bill to the House.

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