Tony Abbott warns of party backlash on Gonski 2.0
The Australian Prime Ministership has become one of the country's most precarious position. Photo: AAP
Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Malcolm Turnbull may face an internal party backlash to his new schools funding package dubbed ‘Gonski 2.0’.
Abbott said expects there to be a “vigorous” debate in the party room when parliament returns next week for the federal budget.
Under the new deal, federal funding will grow from $17.5 billion in 2017 to $22.1 billion by 2021, and $30.6 billion by 2027.
Twenty-seven different school funding agreements entered into by the former Labor government would be replaced with a single, national, sector-blind, needs-based funding model for government and non-government schools.
About 24 wealthy private and church-run schools will have their funding cut, while another 350 would experience lower rates of funding growth, but 9000 schools will be better off.
Mr Abbott said it was hard to be against extra funding for schools, however, he noted at this stage the extra cash was not necessarily tied to better academic outcomes.
“This is a very big change of policy the prime minister announced yesterday and it certainly hasn’t gone to the party room,” he told 2GB on Wednesday.
“I imagine this will be vigorously debated in the party room next week.”
Mr Abbott said it had been “an article of faith” within the Liberal Party since the Menzies era that the party promoted parental choice in education and health care.
Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale was much more supportive of the government’s plans but said his party won’t make a final decision until it’s seen the detail.
He said if it’s a choice between more tennis courts, rowing sheds and equestrian centres at private schools or equipping public school classrooms with up-to-date technology and decent libraries then it was a “sensible reform”.
“The continued public investment in some of the wealthiest private schools comes at a cost of investment in those public schools that desperately need the money,” he told ABC Radio.
Senator Di Natale said the party wouldn’t be moved by scare campaigns from the education union or others.
