Page 3560 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 2010

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say this or mean it? Is either prepared to draw out the consequences—setting high standards for all public schools, adopting the funding priorities that this requires, and making durable improvements in the quality of the teaching force?

Senator Brown goes on to say:

Australia ranks 18 out of 30 in a comparison of OECD for funding to public education (excluding tertiary) as a percentage of GDP. Based on the most recent available figures, for Australia to be a leader in OECD, spending around 4% GDP, would require an additional $5.2 billion.

As you know, the Greens support the Mining Super Profits tax as originally proposed by Wayne Swan and Treasury which would raise that 20 billion. However as a first step in the new parliament, the Greens will negotiate an adjustment to the mining tax so that it raises an additional $2 billion that will boost the public school system to fund a range of important areas.

So what we have is a policy worth $5.2 billion. We have a source of $2 billion worth of funding, and the interesting question is: where does the other $3.2 billion come from? As long as this policy stands on the Greens’ website uncorrected, it is very important that paragraph (2) of Mr Barr’s amendment be passed. It simply calls on the Australian Greens to clarify their position on school funding as a matter of urgency.

Question put:

That Mr Barr’s amendment be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Amendment agreed to.

MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (5.29): Just to briefly close, I think there has been a number of extraordinary parts to this debate, but the Greens voting against that amendment is probably the most extraordinary. The Greens have essentially voted against an amendment that simply calls on the Australian Greens to say what their policy is. What is it that they have got to hide about their policies? The amendment calls on the Greens to clarify their policies; it calls on Senator Bob Brown and the Australian Greens Party to say whether they are going to rip $60 million out of non-government schools in the ACT? That is what the policy on their website says. He had the opportunity to say, “No, that’s wrong.” He had the opportunity to take it

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