Christopher Pyne meets states over school funding after dumping Gonski plan

Updated

Education Minister Christopher Pyne is facing off against some angry state counterparts in the wake of his decision to dump Labor's Gonski school funding model.

Mr Pyne created a political storm earlier this week when he pledged to renegotiate all school funding deals made by the former government.

He says the Government will honour funding for 2014 but beyond that, a new model will be implemented.

But New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia all insist that agreements for funding over the next six years were signed off under the previous government and must be honoured.

Despite anger from those jurisdiction, Mr Pyne said he expected a warm welcome, before he headed into the meeting with education ministers in Sydney this morning.

"I think I'll get a very warm reception from my education ministerial colleagues because we're all friends and we're all trying to do the best thing possible for students in schools," he said.

Mr Pyne told 7.30 he will ask the states and territories to work with him on funding.

"I'm going to ask them to work together with me, with the Catholic and independent systems, to come up with a model that has as its principles that it's national, that it's fair and that it's equitable.

"I want to move the debate from funding to teacher quality, a robust curriculum, principal autonomy and parental engagement."

Western Australia and Queensland, which did not sign up to Labor's funding plan, are pleased there will be fresh negotiations.

But Mr Pyne may be heading for a showdown with other states and territories over the issue.

South Australia's Education Minister Jennifer Rankine says she and some of her colleagues are determined to fight the Commonwealth over the issue.

"This will be the biggest betrayal ever of children around this nation if this Federal Liberal Government turns their back on the Gonski deals that have been signed," she said.

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell and Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon have also said they want the Commonwealth to abide by the signed agreement reached on education funding.

Tasmania signed a heads of state agreement with Labor government, but a binding bilateral agreement was not finalised.

Tasmanian Education Minister Nick McKim says Mr Pyne should honour the heads of agreement negotiated with the previous government.

"This is an outrage perpetrated on Australia's most disadvantaged students, on their parents and on their schools," he said earlier this week.

"And Tasmania will be putting to Christopher Pyne: stick to your promise and don't try to cover up one of the biggest broken election promises in Australia's history."

Mr Pyne denies the Government has broken an election commitment, and says the Commonwealth's total contribution over four years will remain the same.

He has accused Labor of removing $1.2 billion from the budget before the election when it failed to clinch deals with Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

He has pledged that those jurisdictions will receive an extra $230 million for next year to bring them into line with the other states and territories.

"Unlike Short Change Shorten, who took $1.2 billion out of the school funding model, we're putting $230 million back in for WA, Queensland and Northern Territory for one year while I sort out the Shorten shambles that I've been left," Mr Pyne said.

"We can be absolutely sure that in 2014 every school will get the same money that it would have under the agreement, whether it signed it or not."

Topics: federal---state-issues, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, education, sydney-2000, australia, nsw, vic, tas, sa, qld, nt

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