Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I note the interjections. Claiming there is a cut is a bit like going to your boss and saying, 'Boss, I want a $100 pay rise,' and your boss saying, 'I can't afford $100 but I will give you a $75 pay rise.' So you have actually had a pay rise but you claim it as a cut. It is bizarre. Funding is going up year on year on year. Those opposite are making unsubstantiated claims and false promises to their communities.

Some older students will listen to these debates in parliament and watch the news and read posts on Facebook and see orchestrated campaigns from the likes of the Labor front GetUp! and some may actually believe what they read or hear: that there are cuts to education, despite the funding going up each year. This will affect a student's state of mind. It affects their confidence in the school system, and that is not fair. It is not fair of Labor to be scaring people and scaring families unnecessarily. It is not fair for Labor to play politics with the lives of students purely for political expediency. But, sadly, this is a growing trend within the Labor Party. This win at any cost no matter what the collateral damage may be type of approach is part of Labor's deficit of trust in the community.

In conclusion, I want to refer to an editorial in The Agenot known as a great supporter of the coalition or our side of politics, the old Melbourne Age. But in this edition yesterday, relating to the coalition's education reforms, The Age editorialised:

We believe the policy presented in recent days by the Coalition government, a package being referred to as Gonski 2.0, is a good compromise – and is the best chance our nation has of moving to a needs-based funding model.

Opposition members interjecting—

I am shattered to hear the members opposite disagreeing now that they have backed away from their claims of a cut and they are saying there is something wrong with doing a compromise. The Age also noted that opposition leader Bill Shorten's stance suffered a 'credibility deficit'. Mr Shorten, the Leader of the Opposition, claims he would spend $22 billion more than the increases which the coalition has actually budgeted for. Unfortunately for those opposite, they have not budgeted for it. Years 5 and 6 of Gonski—2018-19, which contained even higher leaps in funding—were never funded by Labor, and those opposite know that. Labor is simply spending money it knows it does not have. Nor has it any realistic hope of raising it without higher taxes or making cuts in other areas.

Those opposite will have the chance to speak during the continuation of this debate. I am quite happy for them to come in here and explain which taxes are going to increase or which cuts they are going to make to pay for their unfunded $22 billion. I am quite happy for them to come in here and explain it. I think what you will find, Mr Deputy Speaker, is not one of them will actually have a plan for how they are going to fund their unrealistic approach to this debate. It is not fair to the families, it is not fair to the students for Labor to be raising false hope and making false claims.

Our position is completely transparent. We being honest, absolutely, with the Australian people about our education reforms. That is why, as I said earlier, I encourage all parents to hear from both sides of the debate, listen to the details and avail themselves of all the facts. From that point on we can have a well-informed opinion on these reforms that will deliver record funding for all schools in my electorate and provide a real needs-based funding model to the students who need it most.

I thank the House.

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