Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Assistant Minister for Education and Training) (15:58): The old saying goes: lies, damned lies and statistics. But, perhaps, the saying should be updated to: lies, dammed lies and speeches from Australian Labor Party senators. What we have just heard, and it has continued throughout the day, is a hysterical reaction from the Labor Party—a reaction that is completely based on mistruth. I think it is important, in relation to this topic, that we do try to have a sensible discussion. Certainly the government is trying to have a sensible discussion with the Australian states and territories about how the federation operates, about what our responsibilities are as a Commonwealth and what the responsibilities of the states and territories are, and how we make sure that we eliminate waste and duplication and get the best possible results in terms of the delivery of services right across all of the areas of government responsibility, including, and especially, good educational outcomes for students, and school students in particular. Let us have a look at the discussion paper that has triggered this wave of outrage from those opposite. I will give you a few quotes from it. Firstly it says: 'The Constitution by virtue of section 51(xxiiiA) and section 96 has allowed the Commonwealth to increase markedly its involvement in education which is generally regarded as a state and territory responsibility.' It goes on to say: … the current arrangements have … undoubtedly blurred the lines of accountability to the general public … As result it is not always clear who ultimately is responsible for the delivery of high-quality services. This shared space on policy and funding has also led to duplication, waste and poor targeting of investment and effort. I would hope that those opposite, that anybody who cares about the future education of our schoolchildren and the management of our school and educational system, would want to eliminate duplication and waste and would want to make sure that investment and effort was well targeted to get the best possible outcome for students. This of course is framed as part of a broader discussion, though. This is not just a review in school funding; this is a review of the entire federation and how it operates. It is having a look at the health sector, it is having a look at the education sector, it is having a look at revenue—how governments have the revenue to access funding for the future. Through all of that, it is trying to find a way to ensure services are delivered in the most efficient and effective manner possible without having that waste and duplication that we have seen. The problem with this level of waste and duplication and this lack of clear accountability for who is responsible—because currently you have every level of government tipping funding in different and disparate ways to every different level of education—is that nobody ends up being held effectively to account for outcomes. What we have seen, as this discussion paper goes on to say, is: Spending by all Australian governments grew by 37 per cent, in real terms, in the ten years between 2002-03 and 2012-13. But we now have fewer higher achievers and more low performers than a decade ago and average scores have declined. We are now equal 17th in mathematics; we were equal second. We are equal eighth science; we were equal third. And we are equal 10th in reading; we were equal second. So, while how much funding schools get is important, it is not the silver bullet to achieve better results. How it is spent matters more. Senator Wright interjecting— Senator BIRMINGHAM: I will happily take that interjection, Senator Wright—and where it is spent, indeed. So, as a federal government, we have tried to make sure that a lot of our education reforms are focused on the 'how it is spent' question—how it is spent to make sure that we do deliver the appropriate policies that increase school autonomy, ensure that our curriculum is robust and relevant, promote parental engagement in children's learning and improve the quality of teaching; things the Commonwealth can clearly do. We are providing record funding—$69.5 billion to schools over the next four years. So the funding is there in record levels, but we are trying to tackle the policy measures that can help to ensure it is spent in ways that get better outcomes and redress the decline in our performance over the last decade. We also want to make sure that the funding is used as wisely, effectively and efficiently as possible. That is why we have in this discussion paper, as it is across all elements of the Federation, canvassed the whole range of options that are available. Option 1 that is canvassed here is that states and territories become fully responsible for all schools. Of course, if that were to happen—I hear the hysterical reaction already—you would need to make sure that states and territories had the funding streams to be able to fund all schools, that they actually had the revenue to make up for where the Commonwealth was stepping back, and that of course would be part of any structured arrangement around Federation reform. Option 2 is that states and territories are responsible for funding government schools and the Commonwealth is responsible for funding non-government schools. That is essentially a finessing of current arrangements where the states and territories take the bulk of responsibility for funding the government school sector and the Commonwealth, as it has for decades, takes the bulk of responsibility for funding non-government schools. Option 3 is that there is reduced Commonwealth involvement in school programs—essentially, a level of maintaining the status quo in terms of some of the funding but with less Commonwealth interference in how schools are operated. Option 4 is that the Commonwealth is the dominant public funder of all schools on an equal and consistent basis. Option 4 would be saying that the Commonwealth would take a much greater role in terms of the amount of funding it would provide to education. Of course, the Commonwealth would need to consider how and where it got that revenue from and how it delivered this. But you can see from those four options that the whole spectrum of scenarios is there under consideration, yet we have an opposition—and, frankly, it includes the Greens and the unions on this topic—that is hell-bent on a misleading campaign suggesting that this is part of some strategy for the government to cut school spending. Senator Wright: Absolutely. Senator BIRMINGHAM: Senator Wright says, 'Absolutely. There we go. Mr Acting Deputy President Whish-Wilson, through you: Senator Wright, we will only achieve any reform of the Federation if the states and territories agree. That is why they have been involved in the development of this discussion paper, that is why the Prime Minister is sitting down with state and territory leaders in July, and of course that is why I am pleased to say that the states and territories are being far more sensible about this than any of those opposite, because they know that it makes sense to try to get clearer lines of accountability if it is possible. The South Australian Labor Premier has not endorsed Senator Polley's hysteria, nor Senator Wright's hysteria, nor the hysteria of many others in this space. South Australian Labor Premier, Jay Weatherill, has rightly said: … it's only a discussion paper. We've been asking them— 'them' being the Commonwealth— to canvas the broader range of options … So we have canvassed the broadest possible range of options. Premier Weatherill went on to say: There's a broad debate going on about Commonwealth/state relations, which is a good thing. And it is a good thing to have this debate and it is to the shame of all of those opposite that they do not want to have a sensible debate about this, that they want to turn it into a scare campaign and that they do not seem to care about whether or not funding going to the school system is wasted. They would rather run a scare campaign. They do not care about the fact that our educational standards are slipping because of this wastage, because of these inefficiencies. They want to run a scare campaign. We will not accept a scare campaign. We have been crystal clear today to make sure that everybody understands that there are no plans from this government to reduce support to schools. That is why we are providing record funding. We have no intention of charging people to attend and access free public education. But we do intend to have a proper discussion with the states and territories to see whether the Commonwealth can actually manage to operate and run the education system, and the schooling system, and the funding thereof, more efficiently—in partnership with the states and territories. That is what this is about—trying to get better outcomes for Australian taxpayers and for state taxpayers— Senator Wright interjecting— Senator BIRMINGHAM: but more importantly, Senator Wright, for students and parents, and to make sure that they are getting the best possible resources. It is to the shame of all those opposite that all they are interested in is a scare campaign on this—rather than achieving the best possible outcomes for Australian students, which is what this government wants to deliver.