Daniel Andrews slams Malcolm Turnbull over Gonski 2.0

The Turnbull government was embroiled in yet another vitriolic stoush with Victoria last night over Gonski 2.0.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has accused Malcolm Turnbull of using “coercion” to force states into signing on to the Gonski 2.0 schools funding model.

In a letter obtained by The Australian, Mr Andrews told the Prime Minister that the federal government had put funding for Victorian students at risk.

Mr Andrews criticised Mr Turnbull for reneging on the old Gonski deal while threatening to cut school funding if states did not agree to the new model.

“The recent agreements to the Australian Education Act in 2013 provide that unless Victoria signs up to an interim agreement, schools — both government and non-government — will lose base funding in 2018,” Mr Andrews wrote.

“This is coercion … not in the spirit of relationships between federal and state governments in the past.

“This outrageous action puts funding for every Victorian student at risk. Base funding must be delivered to states regardless of their participation in a new agreement — just as it was delivered to states that were not party to the original Gonski agreement.”

The letter came as Victorian Catholic schools campaigned against the Turnbull government’s school funding reforms, warning that students would be forced to leave the system because of higher fees.

The federal government has rejected claims Catholic schools would be worse off under its legislation.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham hit back at Mr Andrews last night, saying the Premier wanted a blank cheque from the federal government without guaranteeing the money would be spent on schools.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for the Andrews Labor government to be criticising our needs-based funding plan considering they never committed funding to the final year of the original Gonski agreements,” he said.

“Victorian Labor should be embarrassed that they invest less per student than any other state yet plead for an unaccountable special deal that is the antithesis of fair, consistent and needs-based funding.”

In his letter to Mr Turnbull, Mr Andrews said the Coalition’s needs-based deal would put a “disproportionate burden” on Victorian schools.

“School funding should not be held to ransom by the commonwealth government, nor should it be dictated by the commonwealth government,” he wrote.