Lost funds claimed at launch of pro-Gonski roadshow
Education unions have launched a national tour to campaign against the Federal Government's decision not to fund schools based on their key needs.
The National Tertiary Education Union, the Queensland Teachers Union and the Australia Education Union held a community forum in north Queensland to address the decision not to install ‘Gonski’ reforms.
The reforms based on the education funding review chaired by businessman David Gonski were defined through analysis of evidence from Australia and overseas, as well as the input of hundreds of experts and authorities, to form the largest and most complete assessment of its kind.
But after receiving about as much input as it is possible to have, the reforms now sit stymied under a government reticent to pay out.
At their meetings this week, the unions said Queensland students had already started to suffer.
They claimed children were only getting a third of the funding required under the current federal government model.
“Queensland stood to gain significantly from the Gonski school funding reforms and we now stand in the shadow of the Abbott Government with Queensland children significantly worse off,” Queensland Teachers Union's Kevin Bates told the ABC.
“There cannot be any greater insult to the parents and students of Queensland than a Government who has come offering much and delivering little.”
But the federal Member for Herbert, the LNP’s Ewan Jones, said the union roadshow which had started in his electorate was just a politically-motivated campaign.
He said the Coalition replaced $1.2 billion to the budget set to be removed by Labor.