❓ The Minister for Education outlines the Cook and Albanese Labor governments' partnership to deliver an additional $1.6 billion in investment for WA public schools, highlighting improved equity, wellbeing, and workforce support.
AnsweredQoN 29Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EDUCATION — FUNDING
29. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to ensuring that every Western Australian school student receives a quality
education.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the Cook and Albanese Labor governments are
partnering to deliver an additional $1.6 billion in investment for Western Australian
public schools?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this partnership will further strengthen Western Australia's
public education system?
29. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to ensuring that every Western Australian school student receives a quality
education.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the Cook and Albanese Labor governments are
partnering to deliver an additional $1.6 billion in investment for Western Australian
public schools?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this partnership will further strengthen Western Australia's
public education system?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for Kingsley for her question.
The member for Kingsley, along with the Premier; the federal Minister for
Education, Hon Jason Clare; the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Sabine
Winton; and the federal Minister for Early Childhood Education, Hon Dr Anne Aly
and I were all at East Hamersley Primary School on the first day of term
to make a very important announcement. I should
set the scene. The shadow Minister for Education, the member for Roe, two days
before, had an op-ed in The West Australian . He was lamenting
that the WA Labor government was doing nothing in the education space. I have
to say that it was a pretty spiteful op-ed. It was actually quite personal.
Anyway, leaving that aside, he talked about there being no funding by the state
government. That is interesting because in the last budget we had a $6.4
billion recurrent funding in education, which was 30 per cent more than the
last budget that the Libs handed down in public education. It is interesting
that he sees it as underfunding. He talks about underfunding and two days later
we gather in the electorate of the member for Kingsley to make this incredibly
important announcement. It has resulted in $1.6 billion of extra, additional
funding that will go into public education over the next 10 years. The member's
timing was not that good.
Let
me talk about the agreement that was signed. We signed a statement of intent
with the federal government. It is all to do with the funding
arrangement between the commonwealth and state government on public funding of
education. It relates to the National School Reform Agreement , which is
the agreement that determines that funding arrangement. The federal government
initially wanted to increase funding by 2.5 per cent. At the moment, it funds
public schools to 20 per cent of what is called the Gonski standard, which is
the school resource standard or what Gonski determined is needed to ensure
students have a proper education. The
federal government funds 20 per cent of public school students and the states
have to do the rest. At the moment, the basic level around Australia is 75 per cent,
so there is a five per cent gap. We are funding higher than that at the moment,
but 75 per cent is the average. The federal government stated that it will
increase its funding by 2.5 per cent, but the states have to increase their
funding by 2.5 per cent. The initial offer
by Minister Clare was that the federal government would increase its funding over five years by 0.5 per cent a year, so we would not get to full funding
until 2029. We are in the position to increase our 2.5 per cent quicker because
of our sound financial management. We went to the feds and said, ''We'll
sign the statement of intent, we want to get moving, but we want our 2.5 per
cent commonwealth funding quicker.'' Therefore, by the end of 2026, we
will be the only jurisdiction in Australia—the Australian Capital
Territory excepted—that will have full public funding of our schools.
Does the member still stand by that op-ed? By the end of 2026, all our public
schools will be funded with 100 per cent of
the Gonski funding. I am sure that even the member would see that as being very
important.
What will that funding be used for?
It will be used to ensure that we have improved equity and excellence in
schools, and that we are supporting the wellbeing of students and teachers and
providing a strong and sustainable workforce
of teachers and non-teaching school staff. I should also add that we will be
targeting the most disadvantaged
schools first, so many of our disadvantaged schools will be funded by the end
of 2025. I should also add that we have a no-disadvantage clause in the
agreement, so if other states are somehow able to negotiate a better deal, we
will also get that better deal, like we did with the GST. We funded a better
deal with the GST and we are funding a better deal with the school funding
agreement. No wonder the member is concentrating on federal government issues;
he has no way to attack the state government! But I am not going to stop there
while I am on my feet.
It is interesting that the member has
talked about that op-ed today. His contribution yesterday in this house was
unbelievable. He went on about the Grattan Institute's report. He said —
� I know that some other states are
looking at phonics and explicit instruction as part of their programs to
improve reading. I look forward to being enlightened about what this state is
doing and whether that was a condition of the minister signing up.
You are the shadow education
minister; is that correct?
Mr P.J. Rundle : That's
correct.
Dr A.D. BUTI : Do you not know
that our schools have phonics taught by explicit instruction? That is the
policy. Every school has to do that; if they do not, they get reviewed. We are
also the only state, as far as I am aware, that actually tests for phonics in
grade 1. Is the member not aware of that? Clearly not. On a more positive note —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Point of Order
Mr R.S. LOVE : The minister
appears to be trying to subvert this to question time for the shadow Minister
for Education, rather than what is actually
the situation. It is the Minister for Education who should be answering the questions.
The SPEAKER : You have made a point.
It is not actually a point of order. The minister is entitled to ask rhetorical
questions, but I would urge him not to badger people opposite for an answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Dr A.D. BUTI : Thank you very
much, Madam Speaker.
In regard to the funding that the
Cook government is investing in public education, we have invested $626 million
in new and upgraded school facilities in 2023–24, which is more than
double what the member's government did when in office. As part of the
new schools, I was actually with the member for West Swan, the Deputy Premier,
out at Henley Brook Primary School about two weeks ago now to open its $31.3 million
beautiful new primary school. The shadow minister was there and he actually
posted it up on Facebook. He wrote —
� a pleasure to attend the opening of
Henley Brook Primary School last week. What an amazing campus, with lots of
open green spaces, great sporting facilities and state of the art classrooms.
There is even a photo there with
myself, the member for West Swan, federal member Carmen Lawrence—not
Carmen Lawrence—Tania Lawrence, and also the local mayor, Tanya
Richardson, and he even had the generosity to
put a photo of me up there that he took. It was really well done. That is what
we are doing. We are not underfunding , as the member well knows. We
reached a historic agreement, so how about being positive? As the member knows,
the values of Henley Brook are ''hero'', which stands for heart,
some compassion—we know that opposition members do not have compassion—excellence,
resilience and optimism. Show a bit of optimism, member!
The member for Kingsley, along with the Premier; the federal Minister for
Education, Hon Jason Clare; the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Sabine
Winton; and the federal Minister for Early Childhood Education, Hon Dr Anne Aly
and I were all at East Hamersley Primary School on the first day of term
to make a very important announcement. I should
set the scene. The shadow Minister for Education, the member for Roe, two days
before, had an op-ed in The West Australian . He was lamenting
that the WA Labor government was doing nothing in the education space. I have
to say that it was a pretty spiteful op-ed. It was actually quite personal.
Anyway, leaving that aside, he talked about there being no funding by the state
government. That is interesting because in the last budget we had a $6.4
billion recurrent funding in education, which was 30 per cent more than the
last budget that the Libs handed down in public education. It is interesting
that he sees it as underfunding. He talks about underfunding and two days later
we gather in the electorate of the member for Kingsley to make this incredibly
important announcement. It has resulted in $1.6 billion of extra, additional
funding that will go into public education over the next 10 years. The member's
timing was not that good.
Let
me talk about the agreement that was signed. We signed a statement of intent
with the federal government. It is all to do with the funding
arrangement between the commonwealth and state government on public funding of
education. It relates to the National School Reform Agreement , which is
the agreement that determines that funding arrangement. The federal government
initially wanted to increase funding by 2.5 per cent. At the moment, it funds
public schools to 20 per cent of what is called the Gonski standard, which is
the school resource standard or what Gonski determined is needed to ensure
students have a proper education. The
federal government funds 20 per cent of public school students and the states
have to do the rest. At the moment, the basic level around Australia is 75 per cent,
so there is a five per cent gap. We are funding higher than that at the moment,
but 75 per cent is the average. The federal government stated that it will
increase its funding by 2.5 per cent, but the states have to increase their
funding by 2.5 per cent. The initial offer
by Minister Clare was that the federal government would increase its funding over five years by 0.5 per cent a year, so we would not get to full funding
until 2029. We are in the position to increase our 2.5 per cent quicker because
of our sound financial management. We went to the feds and said, ''We'll
sign the statement of intent, we want to get moving, but we want our 2.5 per
cent commonwealth funding quicker.'' Therefore, by the end of 2026, we
will be the only jurisdiction in Australia—the Australian Capital
Territory excepted—that will have full public funding of our schools.
Does the member still stand by that op-ed? By the end of 2026, all our public
schools will be funded with 100 per cent of
the Gonski funding. I am sure that even the member would see that as being very
important.
What will that funding be used for?
It will be used to ensure that we have improved equity and excellence in
schools, and that we are supporting the wellbeing of students and teachers and
providing a strong and sustainable workforce
of teachers and non-teaching school staff. I should also add that we will be
targeting the most disadvantaged
schools first, so many of our disadvantaged schools will be funded by the end
of 2025. I should also add that we have a no-disadvantage clause in the
agreement, so if other states are somehow able to negotiate a better deal, we
will also get that better deal, like we did with the GST. We funded a better
deal with the GST and we are funding a better deal with the school funding
agreement. No wonder the member is concentrating on federal government issues;
he has no way to attack the state government! But I am not going to stop there
while I am on my feet.
It is interesting that the member has
talked about that op-ed today. His contribution yesterday in this house was
unbelievable. He went on about the Grattan Institute's report. He said —
� I know that some other states are
looking at phonics and explicit instruction as part of their programs to
improve reading. I look forward to being enlightened about what this state is
doing and whether that was a condition of the minister signing up.
You are the shadow education
minister; is that correct?
Mr P.J. Rundle : That's
correct.
Dr A.D. BUTI : Do you not know
that our schools have phonics taught by explicit instruction? That is the
policy. Every school has to do that; if they do not, they get reviewed. We are
also the only state, as far as I am aware, that actually tests for phonics in
grade 1. Is the member not aware of that? Clearly not. On a more positive note —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Point of Order
Mr R.S. LOVE : The minister
appears to be trying to subvert this to question time for the shadow Minister
for Education, rather than what is actually
the situation. It is the Minister for Education who should be answering the questions.
The SPEAKER : You have made a point.
It is not actually a point of order. The minister is entitled to ask rhetorical
questions, but I would urge him not to badger people opposite for an answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Dr A.D. BUTI : Thank you very
much, Madam Speaker.
In regard to the funding that the
Cook government is investing in public education, we have invested $626 million
in new and upgraded school facilities in 2023–24, which is more than
double what the member's government did when in office. As part of the
new schools, I was actually with the member for West Swan, the Deputy Premier,
out at Henley Brook Primary School about two weeks ago now to open its $31.3 million
beautiful new primary school. The shadow minister was there and he actually
posted it up on Facebook. He wrote —
� a pleasure to attend the opening of
Henley Brook Primary School last week. What an amazing campus, with lots of
open green spaces, great sporting facilities and state of the art classrooms.
There is even a photo there with
myself, the member for West Swan, federal member Carmen Lawrence—not
Carmen Lawrence—Tania Lawrence, and also the local mayor, Tanya
Richardson, and he even had the generosity to
put a photo of me up there that he took. It was really well done. That is what
we are doing. We are not underfunding , as the member well knows. We
reached a historic agreement, so how about being positive? As the member knows,
the values of Henley Brook are ''hero'', which stands for heart,
some compassion—we know that opposition members do not have compassion—excellence,
resilience and optimism. Show a bit of optimism, member!
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