One Nation set to win school fight for Libs

The Coalition is on the verge of locking in enough Senate votes to drive the Gonski 2.0 reforms through parliament.

One Nation whip senator Brian Burston. Picture: Kym Smith

Education Minister Simon Birmingham is on the verge of locking in enough Senate crossbench votes with the support of One ­Nation to drive his $18.6 billion Gonski 2.0 reforms through parliament this week, resisting a ­bitter backlash from Catholic schools.

But the package could yet be scuttled by rebel Coalition MPs, with at least one Liberal senator claiming he could not support it until the Catholic sector was ­offered a fairer deal.

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One Nation whip Brian Burston told The Australian he had ­informed Senator Birmingham that the party’s four senators would “support Gonski in its current form”, even though party leader Pauline Hanson remained coy on One Nation’s position.

“It’s a fair deal, it’s based on need, and the fact a school can apply for extra funding based on special needs I think is a good thing,’’ Senator Burston said ­yesterday.

The government’s schools funding overhaul, which dis­mantles 27 deals and rips up state agreements, will deliver the same funding rules for all students nationwide regardless of where they live or go to school. The package redirects more needs-based money to public schools.

Catholic schools will still receive $3.4bn extra, but stand to lose about $4bn over the decade under the government’s changes because their funding does not grow as fast as it would compared to Labor’s existing Gonski model.

Some Liberals remain to be convinced the reforms do not represent a “direct transfer’’ of funds from the Catholic sector — which has been a significant part of the Coalition’s voting base since the Menzies era — to public schools under the changes.

In a potentially pivotal move, West Australian Liberal Chris Back, who will retire from the Senate this week, said he could not support the Gonski 2.0 package in its current form.

Senator Back, who served on the Catholic Education Commission for almost a decade, told The Australian the issue was too important to get wrong and Catholic schools must get a fair deal.

“I will not depart from a position for a fair agreement for Catholic schools,’’ he said.

With Labor and the Australian Education Union strongly ­opposed to the Coalition’s reworking of the Gonski principles, Senator Birmingham said he was having “a really constructive ­series of discussions with crossbench senators, as well as with the Greens, and I can see two clear possible pathways’’. The first involves winning over the nine Greens senators — who are yet to reach a final united position on the changes — and at least one ­independent crossbencher.

Some of Senator Birmingham’s conservative colleagues are warning against the political ­optics of “getting into bed’’ with the Greens on any issue because the party supports Safe Schools and same-sex marriage.

“To do a deal with the Greens seems madness to me, that we’re hell-bent on driving our own base away in return for votes from the Greens in which we’ll never be ­rewarded at the ballot box,’’ former Liberal minister Kevin ­Andrews said.

National Catholic Education Commission executive director Christian Zahra called on Senator Birmingham to stop trying to rush the policy through, saying “the wheels have well and truly fallen off the minister’s wagon, with figures from his own department showing that his policy will rip ­billions of dollars out of low-fee Catholic schools’’.

The government’s second ­option to secure parliamentary backing centres on stitching together the votes of 10 of the 12 non-Greens crossbench senators, and is firming as the most likely path.

Senator Burston said One Nat­ion senators took a decision on the legislation last week after meeting Senator Birmingham.

However, Senator Hanson refused to confirm her party’s position. “Throwing money at education is not always the ­answer,” she said. “We have an ­obligation to children and their parents to ensure teachers are at a high level of teaching standard, coupled with a restoration of discipline in the classroom.”

The Nick Xenophon Team’s three senators are open to the changes, while David Leyonhjelm, who will put forward an amendment to peg the indexation of funding to inflation, supports the reforms in principle. This hands the government the possibility of eight crossbenchers. Derryn Hinch is backing the reforms, and Lucy Gichuhi is understood to be in the government’s column. Jacqui Lambie remains undecided, while Cory Bernardi has previously voiced opposition.

The Greens will decide their final position in their partyroom, possibly this week, but leader Richard Di Natale said they were in no rush. “We know what the politics are here — the government doesn’t want to fight an election campaign on schools funding. They simply want to do what they can to try and get this off the political agenda,’’ he told Sky News.

The Green’s compromise “Gonski 2.0-plus” package — which includes about $5bn extra over 10 years for all underfunded schools — would be a better deal for public schools than the government’s current proposal, but the AEU, which has a powerful voice in the ALP as well as representing many teachers who vote Greens, is locked in behind Labor. “We’ve got a very clear message to the Greens and to all crossbench senators, and that is that in this current form, they must block this legislation,’’ AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said.

Some of the crossbench negotiating points include the Greens’ push for an independent watchdog, a shorter timetable to speed up the reforms, and changes to ­ensure states pull their weight.

KEY GONSKI 2.0 NEGOTIATING POINTS IN THE SENATE

TIMEFRAME

Gonski 2.0

The Commonwealth would fund 20 per cent of the benchmark cost – or Schooling Resource Standard – for all public schools by 2027. The cost is determined on school circumstances. The states and territories are the majority funders of government schools.

The Commonwealth would fund 80 per cent by 2027 of the SRS for non-government schools, which is discounted based on the parents’ capacity to contribute towards their child’s education.

Overfunded schools – those receiving more than SRS – would have 10 years to come down to the appropriate benchmark, while additional funding would go to underfunded schools.

Negotiations

The Greens want a faster timetable, which could be as soon as six years.

The Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) also wants a faster timetable, which could be eight years.

The Australian understands the cost of a quicker transition of between six and eight years would be between $600 million and $1.5 billion over four years, and $2.6bn and $5bn over 10 years.

WATCHDOG

Gonski 2.0

No watchdog proposed

Negotiations

The Greens want an independent National Schools Resourcing Body, which was recommended by the original Gonski review, to be established to oversee all aspects of school funding to ensure there is accountability and transparency across the system.

The NXT supports greater transparency and accountability.

STATES

Gonski 2.0

States are required to at least maintain their 2017 per-student funding level as a condition of receiving federal funds.

Negotiations

The Greens are recommending a model that ties state and territory governments into these reforms and would require them collectively to bring public schools up to the SRS benchmark.

NXT supports a watchdog.

INDEXATION

Gonski 2.0

Education funding is indexed at 3.56 per cent for the first four years, and then goes to a floating indexation rate of 75 per cent of the economy wide wages index and 25 per cent of the consumer price index with a 3 per cent floor

Negotiations

David Leyonhjelm will move an amendment this week pushing for the indexation rate to be pegged to the CPI.

PERFORMANCE

Gonski 2.0

David Gonski and Ken Boston are heading The Review to Achieve Educational Excellent in Australian Schools to improve student achievement and school performance. The report, due by December, will be part of the negotiation on new school reform agreements with states and territories in the first half of next year.

Negotiations

One Nation and David Leyonhjelm are concerned that record spending on education over the past decade has failed to lift the academic performance of Australian students.

The Greens want any conditions flowing from the Gonski review into standards relating to teachers, principals and the curriculum be kept independent of any changes to needs-based funding.

Additional reporting: Simon Benson