Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to offer the states and territories about $3 billion today as extra funding for their hospitals.

Most of the premiers and chief ministers are pushing for much more, arguing the federal government should restore the $80 billion they expected until the Abbott government’s 2014 budget.

South Australia’s Labor Premier Jay Weatherill said it was positive to be talking about a contribution from the Commonwealth.

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“But the sort of numbers that we are hearing are really quite pathetic,” Mr Weatherill said.

Despite the pressure, Mr Turnbull is expected to limit his offer at Friday’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting to about $3 billion until 2020 for hospitals, with no extra money for schools.

And he will ask premiers and chief ministers to agree to keep negotiating on his radical tax sharing plan.

Mr Turnbull’s proposal is expected to mean the Commonwealth would cut its income rate by 2 per cent and the states would then impose a tax of the same amount they could spend how they want.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said that represented about $14 billion.

Mr Morrison said the states and territories would not be allowed to lift their income tax rate for some years.

“Well, I can give that absolute guarantee for the next term of Parliament and for the entire transition period over which this would apply,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program.

States and territories could foot public schools’ bill

Mr Morrison confirmed it was possible the states could end up with full responsibility for funding public schools.

He argued it would take just under $7 billion of the $14 billion they would raise from income tax.

“So, the states would be in a position to completely fund that,” Mr Morrison said.

“The same way that they fund police stations and jails and things like this, no-one sits round in the states and territories and says, ‘well, the state treasurer needs to go to the federal treasurer and ask for more money to run our police stations’.”

Victorian Labor Treasurer Tim Pallas called it an absolutely unacceptable plan.

“There appears to a condition that basically says that the Commonwealth are also expecting to vacate the field of public education,” Mr Pallas said as he arrived in Canberra for the COAG meeting.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described the move as creating eight new tax systems.

“That is his solution — you pay and we get cuts to education and hospitals,” he told ABC’s Radio National.

“That is a lazy solution, [a] complete retreat from governing.”

‘Private schools pitted against public schools’: Labor

But West Australian Liberal Premier Colin Barnett fully backed the idea of states being responsible for state schools.

“Let the states be fully responsible for state schools, let the Commonwealth then provide funding for the Catholic and independent schools system,” Mr Barnett said.

“I think that is a sensible reform.”

But Labor federal education spokeswoman Kate Ellis said the plan was divisive and could lead to a two-tiered school education system.

“We now actually have the federal government saying they will wash their hands entirely of every public school student and their local communities,” she told AM.

“It would pit private schools against public schools, but it would also pit some of the states against their fellow states and territories.

“We would see that you would cross a border and get a completely different sort of education.”

She said it would mean walking away from years of work to achieve national consistency, but the Federal Government argued state funding would not mean abandoning a national curriculum.

– ABC