Senator MARSHALL (Victoria) (15:23): I know that one of the joys of being in government is that, in moments like these, the minister will send you down some notes to be religiously followed, but I suggest to you, Senator: you ought to not do that. You should actually think about the issues, do some of your own research and not just parrot the notes that are put in front of you. I know it is not your fault. Senator Kroger: Don't be so patronising! Senator MARSHALL: I know you are a bit sensitive about that, Senator Kroger, because we see you reading from those sorts of notes all the time. But what you ought to start to consider— Senator Kroger: I'm actually reading the Red at the moment. The PRESIDENT: Order on my right! Senator MARSHALL: You are not speaking to this debate. I am not suggesting you are reading from notes right now. The PRESIDENT: Senator Marshall, direct your comments to the chair. Senator MARSHALL: I am talking about when you make these contributions, Senator Kroger. Take some advice and actually think about the issue before you simply parrot what the minister has asked you to say. This is the same minister sending you notes who called the Gonski reforms a con—he called them a 'conski'. The Liberal Party would have to be the only organisation in the whole of the country that did not appreciate that the schools funding model we had in place in this country was not working. It was failing our students. It must be the only party in the country that does not understand that education is the absolute key to our future economic prosperity. It is the cornerstone of all innovation and enterprise. If we do not get education right for our kids and for our future, it is the economic prosperity of everyone in this country that will fail. Everyone—the private school sector and the government school sector—knew the funding model was a failure and was not working. So the Labor government undertook massive reform to create a schools funding model that would take us through to the next generation by providing billions of dollars in extra funding where it was needed most: in delivering the education society that we need if we are going to compete on the global stage into the future. If we want to keep our economic prosperity in this country, we must get education right. I think it is a shame that you finally worked that out only during the election campaign. After calling the Gonski reforms a con, you realised that you were alone—that parents, teachers, the private school sector, the public school sector and everybody else knew that we needed to move forward with extra funding, proper tied funding, proper responsibility and commitments at state and federal levels to improve government funding here. You finally came on board and you realised you were out of touch with the views of the rest of the community. So you desperately tried to make promises. Mr Abbott made the promise that there would be no difference between Labor and Liberal. He promised that, if you voted Labor or Liberal, you would get the same package of educational reform. But, of course, that did not happen. I remember Abbott saying: 'There is not a sliver of light between Labor and Liberal on this policy.' What did we see today? There was this massive backflip where they found $1.2 billion, which they could not find on Friday but found today. But, of course, that only takes us up to four years of funding in this space. When you are talking about future generations, four years of funding is not enough. Our model went to six. Senator Seselja: So you're critical of four years? Well, that's a criticism now. Senator MARSHALL: Let me tell you, Senator: there is a lot of light between four and six years. That is two years worth of light. If you say there is not a sliver of light between Labor and Liberal in terms of educational funding but then leave off two years worth of light and say you are delivering on your promise, let me say: keep reading the notes that the minister gives you. Keep yourself in the dark if that is what you want to do, but you ought to try and understand these issues, because education is too important for the games you are going to play. You found $1.2 billion and you have not funded education for six years. What did Mr Abbott say today? He said, 'Over the weekend we found $1.2 billion worth of cuts.' We know those cuts are going to come from the education sector. So you will cut $1.2 billion to try to make the Australian public believe that you are living up to the commitments you made before the election. People are not stupid, no matter what Tony Abbott says. He said they were stupid last week because they did not understand what he meant when he said the words 'no school would be worse off'. He said the same about the press. He said, 'You shouldn't listen to what I say; you should only listen to what I thought I was saying.' Of course, he has form on that. He has been on the public record before, saying that you cannot trust anything he says unless it is read from a script. Unfortunately, when he made these promises on education they were not read from a script. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Before I call Senator Wright, I remind senators to address their remarks to the chair and not across the chamber.