Northern Territory cut loose on school funding

THE NT will join WA in refusing to sign up to school reforms after Canberra yesterday withdrew from talks with the Territory.

THE Northern Territory will join Western Australia in refusing to sign up to national school funding reforms after the Rudd government yesterday withdrew from negotiations with the Territory, which has the neediest students in the nation.

Education Minister Bill Shorten wrote to Chief Minister Adam Giles confirming that negotiations had reached an impasse over the extra money the Territory is required to invest in schools, despite the federal government offering to increase its contribution and reduce the Territory's obligation.

Mr Shorten said that instead of investing more money in schools, the Territory budget revealed a $250 million cut in education spending across the forward estimates, which "cannot and will not be filled by the commonwealth".

"Reluctantly, it appears to me that your government, unlike other state and territory governments, is not willing to continue meaningful negotiations with the commonwealth on the Better Schools plan," he wrote.

Mr Giles said he was standing up for Territory students and that the federal funding model was flawed, based on misleading calculations and false assumptions that would cut funding for more than 40 per cent of students.

"Canberra is trying to hoodwink us into signing up to a bad deal that diverts money away from urban students in Darwin, the rural area, Palmerston, Alice Springs and Katherine and redistributes it to remote schools," he said.

NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have signed up to the new funding arrangements and all Catholic and independent schools will receive federal funding under the model from next year.

Mr Shorten remained hopeful of reaching agreement with Victoria, with a spokeswoman saying last night: "After a day of negotiations the gap has narrowed. However, there remains some way to go and work will continue over the weekend."

Talks with Queensland continue but Western Australia remains resolute in its opposition to the deal, despite a public appeal and visit by Kevin Rudd yesterday.

The original offer made to the Territory government in April was that the commonwealth would contribute an extra $200m over six years, requiring the Territory to find an extra $100m under the federal government's two-for-one deal.

The commonwealth had offered to reduce the amount of extra investment required from the Territory government by $32m over six years to take account of its "unique costs" for leasing houses for teachers and for power in remote areas.

The commonwealth also adjusted the growth rate for the Territory's base funding and forecast increase in student enrolments based on updated figures, a process carried out in all states.

As a result, Territory schools stood to gain an extra $75m on top of the original $300m, of which the commonwealth would provide $244m if the Territory gave $131m.

After meeting the Prime Minister in Perth yesterday, Premier Colin Barnett refused to accept his insistence that the funding reforms would not involve Canberra wresting control of schools from states and territories.