Longman by-election: Catholic schools in pitch for Labor

The Catholic schools sector has made a last-minute intervention in the critical Longman by-election, endorsing Labor’s schools funding plan.

Brisbane Catholic Education has criticised the Coalition’s schools funding policy. Picture: AAP

The Catholic schools sector has made a last-minute intervention in the critical Longman by-election, endorsing Labor’s schools funding plan over the Coalition’s as Malcolm Turnbull delivered his final pitch to voters.

Sharpening its attack against the Turnbull government’s Gonski 2.0 reforms on the eve of voting, Brisbane Catholic Education criticised the Coalition’s schools funding policy in a letter it asked the three Catholic schools in Longman to send to parents.

The Weekend Australian understands at least one of the schools — St Peter’s primary — forwarded the letter. There are nearly 2300 Catholic school students in the marginal electorate.

The letter tells parents Catholic schools across Australia would receive an extra $250 million over two school years after a future Labor government’s first budget, in addition to already legislated annual increases.

“This funding will restore to Catholic schools the funding previously forecast and will ensure that fees in Catholic schools remain affordable,” the letter states.

It notes the Gonski 2.0 package will initially deliver an average ­annual funding increase of 3.7 per cent but this is less than anticipated cost increases for Brisbane Catholic schools in coming years.

“Comparing the new model to the previous model, Brisbane Catholic schools will be disadvantaged in the order of $40m,” the letter states. “This will impede our ability to build new schools in the archdiocese and we will be challenged to keep pace with the cost increases for Catholic schooling.”

The battle for Longman is on a knife edge, meaning the letter may influence the outcome.

Bill Shorten made no campaign appearances in any of the five by-election seats yesterday, prompting Mr Turnbull to comment: “Bill Shorten is the missing man.”

Mr Turnbull’s pitch on the government’s record of lower taxes, economic growth and more jobs was derailed as he campaigned alongside LNP candidate Trevor Ruthenberg at the Sandstone Point Hotel, where a Labor-voting diner took him to task over penalty rates and others accused the Liberals of selling the ABC.

The Catholic education sector’s anti-Gonski 2.0 campaign in the Batman by-election earlier this year was considered a key factor in Labor’s success.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham hit out at the opposition’s “unbelievable promises” following the release of the BCE letter and said the government was balancing the budget while still increasing investment in ­essential services such as education. He said funding would grow for all school sectors, including an extra $644m for Catholic schools in Queensland.

Mr Shorten told The Weekend Australian school funding was a potent issue the government had “underestimated”.

The feud over Catholic school funding spilt into the Longman by-election on Tuesday with claims at a local school forum that $57m would be ripped from the Queensland sector over the next two years.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: JOHN FERGUSON