School funding row: minister faces sack under PM Dutton

Simon Birmingham will lose the education portfolio if Peter Dutton wins the Liberal leadership.

Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar, who is tipped to take over education if Peter Dutton becomes prime minister. Picture: AAP

Simon Birmingham faces the sack as Education Minister if Peter ­Dutton wins the Liberal leadership.

The Dutton forces are using the Catholic schools funding issue as a key plank of their campaign to dethrone Malcolm Turnbull. Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar is being mooted to replace Senator Birmingham and build the bridges with the church should Mr Dutton become prime minister.

Senior Liberal sources said the reshuffle would be essential to ­repair relationships with the Catholic Church and low-fee inde­pendent schools.

There is strong support for the Victorian-based Mr Sukkar, a Catholic, to take over negotiations about a new funding deal amid deep distrust of Senator Birmingham.

Government officials have been working with the Catholic sector this week to try to reach agreement on a new funding deal after the Chaney review of socio-economic status funding found it was biased against the church.

There is not believed to be a firm figure on the table for what the government will offer the church, although $2 billion has been widely speculated.

The failed challenge to unseat Mr Turnbull this week has raised myriad questions for the church’s negotiators, headed by the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher.

They will be questioning whether they should stall discussions on three fronts: first, that Senator Birmingham caused the brawl with the Catholic sector, ignoring its warnings that the SES system was deeply flawed and biased; second, that a new prime minister sensitive to the issue may afford a more generous deal; and third, in all likelihood Labor will win the next election.

Mr Sukkar is considered sympathetic to the church and aware that low-fee schools, including independents, were treated poorly in the funding deal.

Criticism of Senator Birmingham is not confined to the conservative camp, with key backers of Mr Turnbull also incredulous that the issue has bled into 2018.

“It is hard to fathom why this is still going,’’ a senior Liberal said.

Another said: “Why would the church deal with a minister who shafted you and won’t be there in days or weeks?’’

The current SES system estimates what people can afford to pay in school fees based on the neighbourhood in which they live.

Each family is assigned to a neighbourhood of about 200 households and judged to have the average characteristics of that neighbourhood, although that means an elite boarding school could be judged to be poorer than an inner-city Catholic school.

A review by businessman ­Michael Chaney ­backed the dumping of the SES score system, confirming that the Catholic ­sector had been ­disadvantaged.

Businessman David Gonski flagged in 2011 that the benefits of the Howard-era SES system had been eroded over time.

The Victorian Liberal Party has put up the shutters to Senator Birmingham after he cancelled his appearance at a $5000-a-head fundraiser over a senior state MP blasting his handling of the ­Catholic funding crisis. He was to be the star attraction at the Liberal fundraiser next week that would have netted the party up to $50,000 but quit the event after The Australian reported the criticism of him.

His office later said he would be prepared to attend the Enterprise Victoria function on the condition any money went to his federal colleagues. Senior state party figures said the minister was no longer wanted for fundraisers. “We don’t want him,” a senior Liberal said. “He’s caused us so many problems he can stay in Adelaide.’’