Federal Budget

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:19): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Can the minister provide further advice on federal funding to education?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development) (14:20): Day by day, we are clawing more and more information about the Abbott government's budget and its implication for schools in South Australia and, quite frankly, the situation gets worse day by day. Late last night in the Senate estimates, commonwealth officials finally confirmed that the federal budget papers assume that the commonwealth funding will be indexed at CPI at only 2.5 per cent—almost half the agreed 4.7 per cent—and they have also gutted the additional funding to bring South Australia's schools towards the school resourcing standard.

It seems to me that minister Pyne hasn't been able to make up his mind on indexation. For the HECS-HELP loans, he wants students to pay real interest rates up to 6 per cent—well above CPI—but when it comes to his education funding, funding for our schools, CPI is good enough for him.

With CPI at 2.5 per cent, this means $335 million will be ripped out of years five and six of the Gonski agreement—$15 million more than we were led to believe only three weeks ago. That's the equivalent of 170 student support officers we won't have, or 130 additional teachers we won't have to teach our children. Over the decade, $1.7 billion of South Australian school funding has gone. That $1.7 billion is 70 per cent of what we are spending on public schools this year. It is $200 million less than we knew three weeks ago—that's the equivalent of 1,800 teachers we won't have. The cuts to years five and six equate to an average of $1,280 per student.

Let me give you some perspective on this. On current enrolments, that's indicative of Port Lincoln High School, in the member for Flinders' electorate, losing around $900,000 of funding supports and resources in two years; for Mount Gambier High School, a loss of $1.2 million in a two-year period. Kadina Memorial School, in the member for Goyder's electorate, would lose around $1.3 million of funding resources or support.

These cuts to education by Christopher Pyne will hurt, particularly in regional and remote areas. Members should take note. It was good, however, to see the member for Morphett join the government in his public criticism of the Abbott/Hockey budget. At least he had the courage to speak up. The real question is: will the rest of the Liberal members in this place stand up for their schools?