Catholic sector poised to win schools funding fight as Coalition reels from disaster Super Saturday
CATHOLIC school leaders are poised to win a major funding fight with the government as Malcolm Turnbull seeks to make a new deal before the next election.
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CATHOLIC school leaders are poised to win a major funding fight as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull seeks to end a damaging feud with the sector before the next election.
In the wake of the Coalition’s disastrous Super Saturday by-election result, The Australian reports Mr Turnbull has personally intervened to end the damaging fight with the Catholic sector over funding.
One Liberal backbencher has publicly welcomed the intervention, saying: “We’ve allowed this sore to fester for far too long”.
It comes after Catholic schools wrote to parents in Longman on the eve of the by-election warning them the government’s new school funding model would amount to a $40 million cut to Brisbane Catholic schools, while noting Labor had agreed to boost funding.
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The last minute intervention — and the wider ongoing feud over funding — likely played a part in the LNP’s drubbing in Longman on Saturday where its primary vote plunged 9.42 per cent.
Today, The Australian reports a deal to restore a funding shortfall of $1.7 billion for Catholic schools over the next decade is expected to be reached within weeks.
Mr Turnbull reportedly wrote to the archbishops of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on Friday to agree to a second meeting to resolve the funding issue which has dragged on for months.
He also reportedly confirmed the Prime Minister’s Office would be engaging directly with the sector on the issue.
It comes after a breakdown in relations between the sector and Education Minister Simon Birmingham.
A government minister told The Australian that the Queensland Catholic school sector’s intervention in the Longman by-election should be an “alarm bell” for the government.
“This issue has to be resolved, and resolved quickly. It’s been dragging on now for a year,” the minister said.
Liberal backbencher Tony Pasin echoed the sentiment publicly and welcomed the Prime Minister’s intervention today, saying: “Clearly the relationship between Minister Birmingham and the Catholic education sector has become toxic.”
“And we’ve allowed this sore to fester for far too long — over 12 months — and clearly that had an impact across the nation and will have an impact at the forthcoming federal election if it’s not resolved,” the South Australian Liberal told Sky News.
The issue was also reportedly discussed at a meeting between state Liberal Party presidents and the federal council in Sydney last month.
One source at the meeting told The Australian it was agreed that the Catholic sector funding fight was “becoming a considerable problem”.
Mr Turnbull has reportedly offered to open the government’s books to the Catholic sector’s auditing team, including its internal modelling, to allow the Catholic sector and government to come to an agreement on funding.
Minister Birmingham has denied Catholic system schools would be worse off under the government’s new funding model, which passed through Parliament last year.
Originally published as Catholic sector poised to win schools funding fight as Coalition reels from disaster Super Saturday