Liberals blast Shorten’s Catholic schools funding pledge

Senior Liberals are desperate to end the funding war between the commonwealth and the Catholic education sector.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham has accused Bill Shorten of writing a secret letter to the Catholic hierarchy promising extra funding.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham is facing growing pressure from within the federal and Victorian Liberal parties to resolve the funding war with the Catholic schools system.

The pressure comes as Senator Birmingham yesterday blasted Bill Shorten as “tricky’’ over his written undertaking to the Catholic hierarchy that he would provide more than $250 million extra in education funding in his first two years if he won office.

Several senior federal and state Liberals have expressed private concern about Senator Birmingham’s long-running brawl with key Catholic figures, notably the church’s Victorian education boss, Stephen Elder.

Victorian Liberals are concerned the funding brawl will harm the state Coalition’s attempts to win office in November, with the Catholic sector threatening to campaign against the Turnbull government.

The Weekend Australian understands the prime focus of the anger is at Senator Birmingham and Malcolm Turnbull, but that the fallout could impact the state Coalition. “It’s been handled appallingly. Not enough consultation. Not enough focus on the groups that matter,’’ a senior Liberal said. “It needs to be fixed.’’

Senator Birmingham has formed an independent inquiry into school funding, specifically the way that socio-economic status scores are calculated for non-government schools to ensure funding is fair and needs-based. However, critics argue that it can often be misleading.

Senator Birmingham rejected suggestions that senior Liberals, including former prime minister Tony Abbott and former minister Kevin Andrews, had expressed concerns that Catholic parents were being ripped off.

“Certainly, people wanted to make sure that we addressed the way SES scores are calculated, and that’s what we’re doing through a very independent review, chaired by an eminent Australian, with a Catholic sector representative as part of that review panel,’’ Senator Birmingham told Sky News.