As has been previously announced, a future Coalition Government will honour all school funding agreements entered into with the states and territories.
However, the Albanese Labor Government’s refusal to come clean with the Australian people about the full details of these agreements is concerning.
Despite repeated calls for transparency, Labor continues to hide the terms of the school funding deals it has already struck with Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
The Prime Minister was happy to stand up and make these announcements, but won’t disclose how these agreements will improve student learning outcomes in our schools.
The Senate has ordered these agreements to be produced, and Labor’s shameless attempt to claim public interest immunity has been rejected.
Yet, Education Minister Jason Clare is arrogantly ignoring the rules of the Senate and keeping these agreements secret.
What exactly does Labor have to hide? These are taxpayer dollars — and it is outrageous that Labor thinks it can cut secret deals behind closed doors.
This is basic accountability, but under Anthony Albanese, secrecy and spin are Labor’s stock in trade.
We call on Labor to stop the secrecy, respect the Senate, and immediately release all school funding agreements the Government has signed to date. Australian students, parents and taxpayers deserve nothing less.
Under the previous Coalition government, annual school funding nearly doubled – from $13 billion in 2013 to $25.3 billion in 2022. The greatest growth was in Government schools – where Commonwealth funding grew by 58.4 per cent per student in real terms between 2013 and 2022.