ABBOTT ALL ALONE AS STATES STAND THEIR GROUND

Media Release.

Kate Ellis MP.
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood

26 Nov 2013 

The Abbott Government has caused great uncertainty in Australian schools just weeks before the start of the new school year by announcing that it will seek to re-negotiate school funding with every state and territory around the country.

Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne is desperately trying to rewrite history and break his clear promise to match Labor's needs based funding model:

"We have agreed to the government's school funding model."
CHRISTOPHER PYNE NEWS LIMITED EDUCATION FORUM 29 AUGUST 2013

"We are committed to the student resource standard, of course we are. We are committed to this new school funding model."
CHRISTOPHER PYNE RADIO NATIONAL INTERVIEW 30 AUGUST 2013

Just last week Christopher Pyne told Peter van Onselen on Sky News -

"Over the next four years, we will maintain the new school funding model, and the budget that went with that."
CHRISTOPHER PYNE SKY NEWS INTERVIEW 17 NOVEMBER 2013

States and territories who signed up to Labor's Better Schools funding model have come out publically against the Abbott Government's moves to dismantle it and demanded they keep their pre-election promise to honour the deals made.

"We expect the Australian Government to abide by their promise to the Tasmanian people. It's just not good enough to throw away an election promise, to break an election promise like that when this is about our children's future - they made a promise, they better not break it."
LARA GIDDINGS, TASMANIAN PREMIER 26 NOVEMBER 2013

"The NSW Government has a binding agreement with the Commonwealth Government on school funding for the next six years, and NSW expects the Commonwealth to fulfil its obligations under this agreement. As the Minister for Education, I can say that NSW will not agree to returning to the broken SES funding model."
ADRIAN PICCOLI, NSW EDUCATION MINISTER 26 NOVEMBER 2013

"Tony Abbott made it very clear that existing deals, such as the Heads of Agreenment between Victoria and Commonwealth, would be honoured."
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT 26 NOVEMBER 2013

"The Abbott Government is throwing Australians schools into a world of uncertainty just weeks before the start of the new school year," Shadow Minister for Education, Kate Ellis, said.

"States and territories are rightly concerned that the Abbott Government is refusing to guarantee that no school will be worse off under their new funding model."

"This broken promise is unjustified and inexcusable."

"Nothing has changed since the election, or indeed since last week, so there is no excuse for this breach of commitment to the Australian people," said Ms Ellis.