00:00Thanks Prime Minister, it really is wonderful to have you here.
00:07Ben Carroll normally stands shoulder to shoulder with his Canberra colleagues, but this previously
00:13united front is fraying, and it's all over public schools.
00:18At issue is the Federal Government's offer to lift its share of school funding from 20
00:23to 22.5 per cent of the schooling resource standard.
00:28The Gonski Review's estimate of the total funding required for each school.
00:33The State Government is meant to provide 75 per cent of that funding, and under the deal
00:38would need to kick in an extra 2.5 per cent for public schools to be fully funded.
00:45But Victoria wants the Commonwealth to up its offer to 25 per cent, and neither side
00:50is backing down.
00:52So we're already contributing just over 70 per cent, about 71 per cent to our public
00:58schools.
00:59The Commonwealth?
01:0020 per cent.
01:01We are wanting 5 per cent from the Commonwealth, because that shortfall, 2.5 per cent, is about
01:06$300 million shortfall, and that equates to about $1,000 per student.
01:12Will you accept 2.5 per cent?
01:14We do not plan on accepting 2.5 per cent at all.
01:17Is part of the problem that Victoria can't afford to pay the shortfall?
01:21Why can't the State just stump up the funds?
01:24Well, we've already stumped up over $35 billion in school programs, in infrastructure.
01:31Over the last 10 years, our funding's grown for the public sector more than any other
01:36state, while the Commonwealth Government's funding's grown three times for the non-government
01:41sector.
01:42While State Governments provide the majority of public school funding, for private schools
01:47the situation is reversed, with the Commonwealth paying 80 per cent.
01:52Ben Carroll thinks this is unfair.
01:55We're talking about taking money from some students and giving it to others.
01:59How do you approach that?
02:00Look, Sasha, I'm a product of the non-government school sector, so I went through a Catholic
02:06education system, but I'm also up front that I want to bring balance back to the table,
02:14because it has gone too far for our most wealthy private schools getting Commonwealth
02:20Government funding.
02:21Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has told the ABC the promised additional funding
02:26would be the biggest increase the Commonwealth has ever delivered.
02:30But Ben Carroll is insistent that the Federal Government must pay more.
02:34Why should the Federal Government come up with the cash?
02:37They have their own budgetary challenges.
02:40I argue that when you look at the fiscal imbalance and you look at the Commonwealth with their
02:48goods and services tax revenue, that for Victoria, stumping up $600 million is not that much
02:57to ask for.
02:58As the two Labor Governments go head to head, the clock ticks for Victoria's schools.
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