Barnaby Joyce defends Federal Government Gonski 2.0 funding model

Speaking to media at Carinya Christian School on Friday, Mr Joyce maintained that schools in the New England electorate would be better off under the new Gonski funding program, despite concerns raised by teachers and education advocates.

With the support of the Association of Independent Schools behind the new model, Mr Joyce was joined by Carinya principal David Jones, who congratulated the Coalition on its continued support of education.

“This is a classic example of how we’re getting more funding to the New England,” Mr Joyce said.

“It is really important that people clearly understand that we are actually providing the Gonski model as endorsed by Professor David Gonski – a needs-based system.

“That means a place such as Carinya gets an extra $16.9 million over the next ten years. In fact, the full funding for Carinya over the next 10 years is $75.3 million dollars.

“This is a solid investment in New England, a solid investment in schools and a solid investment in people’s right of choice.”

Mr Joyce said schools were not “losing out” on funding despite opposition to the new model claiming some local schools would be out of pocket by more than $1 million.

He said the previous Labor government funding commitments were under-funded promises.

“The Labor party have never offered up where their money is actually going to come from,” he said. “What we came up with is a funded package.”

Mr Joyce said funding at Farrer Memorial Agricultural School would go up “exponentially” over the next 10 years and accused critics of trying to “muddy the waters.”

“I think it’s quite obvious, you’re getting substantially more funding, we’ve actually gone into the budget and we’re showing how we’re actually balancing the budget and providing this funding – substantial funding. “Any school in the New England electorate, I can show you that they’re getting an increase in funding.”