Canberra
PM: I am delighted to be here with the Chief Minister of the ACT and the Education Minister, and thank you very much to Colleen and her team for having us in this wonderful school that's got an all-star cast when it comes to former pupils.
We've had a great exchange today, talking to the students here so it's been a very special delight to have the opportunity to come out of parliament, see some school kids and answer some questions.
But we are here for a very important occasion and that is today I am announcing with the Chief Minister that the ACT and the Federal Government have reached agreement on our reform agenda and school funding plans.
People around the nation would have heard the word Gonski used.
David Gonski and his team of experts led our nation to a new way of approaching school funding so that we could be assured that in every school around the country that they had the right resources for generations to come so that children could get an excellent education.
The ACT has become the second jurisdiction today to sign on to this new funding arrangement, but also to all of the new ways of working in school which we know will make a difference for our children and the standard of their education.
What we're trying to achieve through these agreements right around the country is that our kids have got a better resourced classroom.
But what that means for those children is that they'll have more access to one on one support as they learn.
There will be specialist teachers there to support kids. There will be literacy and numeracy coaches there to support kids.
Kids will be able to have access to the equipment they need. Teachers will be supported to teach at their very best and new teachers will be particularly supported so that they can be high achieving teachers across their career.
Principals will be more empowered to work with their local community and to focus on school improvement.
These are practical changes in our classrooms.
I want to see them in every classroom around the country in all 9,500 schools.
I'm delighted we've been able to reach agreement with the ACT and here that will mean an investment of an extra $190 million between the two jurisdictions to make a difference to the learning of our children.
In addition, here in the ACT, because it is home to so many high achieving schools, today we are announcing that we will work with the ACT and provide $26 million of funding over six years to establish a centre for quality teaching and learning at the University of Canberra.
We believe the ACT is the right place for such a centre because of the high achievement of its schools.
I'll hand over now to the Chief Minister to make some comments.
CHIEF MINISTER: Thank you, Prime Minister, it's great to be here.
The ACT has long been an advocate of national funding reform and the National Plan for School Improvement so we're really pleased that we've been able to reach agreement with the Commonwealth today.
What this means is that there will be no school worse off in the ACT, indeed all schools will receive extra support over the next six years.
What it also means is for every student in the ACT, regardless of where you go to school, whether you're in a Catholic system primary school or a small primary school on the outer of Canberra or in a busy large school in the middle of Canberra, you will get the same access to resources and support as every other student in the Territory.
I think one of the issues I'm really pleased about is this national funding reform puts to bed the government and non-government school divide once and for all.
It says regardless of where you go to school, this is the money that we need to provide you with an excellent education and that's a really important part of the reform.
We've also been very supportive of this nationally.
The ACT's in a unique position where we're already a very high performing and well-resourced education system.
So in many ways we have a system that many of the other jurisdictions are wanting to reach over the transition period and this puts us in a great position but it also means for us as a country that we are very supportive of students in less resourced systems outside of the ACT getting adequate resourcing through this agreement as well.
We've been supportive of that from the beginning and we continue to be.
I don't think this should be a who gets what from whom debate. It should be that all kids in Australia get access to a high-quality education.
We're very pleased with the announcement of the support for the University of Canberra for a national quality teaching institute.
Again, this is important for our system because we already perform very highly.
This will give an opportunity to take our teachers to the next level as well. So we're pleased, we think it's a great national reform.
The ACT's wanted to reach agreement and we've done that today.
PM: Thank you. We're happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the ACT has had, out of its universities, ripped out almost $30 million a year for the Gonski cuts. You're putting in a little over $30 million a year in this Gonski reform. There's hardly any net gain for the ACT. That doesn't sound like education reform does it?
PM: It most certainly is. First in terms of universities here in the ACT and right around the country, as a result of this Government, funding to universities has increased by more than 50 per cent and funding in universities will continue to increase next year and the year after and the year after that and so on.
That's because I want us to be a nation with high quality universities.
But when we've increased funding so rapidly, what we are asking universities to do is still get more funding but moderate the rate of growth and for that funding to be made available to support a higher quality education for our kids, for all of the changes in schools that I spoke about before which will enable our children to reach their full potential.
So that's the reform we're seeking to achieve here in the ACT and right around the nation.
As the Chief Minister has just said to you, this is a reform that ends for all time the warring and intersect of politics between Catholic, independent and public schools.
It means that we can all be assured that for generations to come there will be the right resources available for the education of our nation's children.
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed that on another school visit you've had another sandwich thrown at you?
PM: I think they must have thought I was hungry.
JOURNALIST: The ACT is quite a small jurisdiction. Do you think that this will have any impact on other jurisdictions signing up to Gonski?
PM: I think every agreement gives momentum to these reforms.
Premier O'Farrell signed the first agreement, now your Chief Minister has signed the second agreement.
I think every signature gives momentum to the reforms because it becomes clearer and clearer that this is a good way of making sure our children get a great education.
And so if your Chief Minister here is prepared to say that, if the Premier of New South Wales is prepared to say that, then I do think that that has a force and effect for other premiers and leaders around the country.
JOURNALIST: The Treasurer said yesterday that the electoral reforms were about integrity in the system. Given that, will you be proceeding with the changes and putting that Bill to parliament?
PM: This will be the subject of consideration and I think Minister Albanese's already said that to you.
JOURNALIST: What do you think about Tony Abbott reneging on his commitment?
PM: Mr Abbott has said to the nation that you can trust him if he signs on the dotted line.
He said to the nation that you can trust what's in writing.
What we know today is even if Mr Abbott signs on a dotted line you can't trust it.
There's a huge gulf between what Mr Abbott says and what Mr Abbott does.
That means for the Australian people if Mr Abbott says to them that he won't cut schools, you can't believe him.
If he says he won't cut health care, you can't believe him.
If Mr Abbott says he won't cut to the bone, you can't believe him.
JOURNALIST: A question for Ms Gallagher. In terms of rates of indexation under this, will any non-government schools be worse off?
CHIEF MINISTER: No, all schools will increase funding in real terms.
The arrangement overall is for indexation as a system at 4.7 per cent.
Most of the schools who are at or above the school resourcing standard will be indexed at 3 per cent, so no school will be worse off.
In terms of additionality of the funding that's over and above indexation, what schools need to get to the school resourcing standard over six years, the majority of that extra funding with go to the Catholic system primary schools and that's because they've been recognised under the school resourcing standard as operating below that now.
In the government system for example, I think there's four schools that operate below the school resourcing standard so most of our schools are at or above it at this point in time.
JOURNALIST: Is there any indication of what the funding will be over the forward estimates for ACT?
CHIEF MINISTER: What element of the funding? There's indexation and there's additional funding. The additional funding over six years is $190 million and that's over the six school years.
That's over and above what we would have expected to get under the current arrangements or if we hadn't signed up.
JOURNALIST: Comcare has issued stop work notices at at least two Telstra NBN sites. What plans did you account for in terms of health risks and roll-out delays when you and Cabinet signed off on the NBN deal?
PM: This is a matter for Telstra, and the Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, has spoken to the chief executive officer of Telstra, to Mr Thodey, and made it very clear that Telstra does need to act here and Telstra is acting.
This is about Telstra's ducts and the condition that they are in.
So really on specifics you need to direct questions to Telstra, but because the Minister has spoken to Telstra I am in a position to be assured that Telstra is acting.
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about the fact that there has been asbestos exposure around Telstra pits and some of the work that's been done ahead of the NBN roll-out?
PM: Of course I am concerned about asbestos, whether it's the asbestos exposure you are talking about now or asbestos in workplaces or homes anywhere.
The Government's taking some steps forward on asbestos eradication because we do know how dangerous asbestos can be.
So I am concerned about asbestos generally, I'm concerned about this. The Minister for Communications has expressed his concerns directly to Telstra and Telstra is acting.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, has the Labor Party misjudged somewhat how strongly the community felt about the electoral funding reforms?
PM: I think what's at the forefront of community attitudes and views is what is Government doing to build the future for me and my family, and that's exactly what we're here today talking about.
No better way of building our nation's future than making sure our children get a world-class education.
I do think the reforms have merits. I don't think people want to see private money undisclosed or having a disproportionate effect in politics.
I do think that worries people so I think the reforms have merit.
Mr Abbott gave a very big tick to these reforms but of course he's walked away from his own promises and pledges today.
JOURNALIST: He says he's listened to the people on this. Won't you as well? Do you still support the legislation?
PM: I'd refer you to Mr Abbott's letter and ask you to identify the words where he says that. He didn't. He signed onto these reforms and gave them a very big tick unconditionally.
JOURNALIST: You've spoken about the merits of the reforms otherwise, other than just the extra money. So will you push ahead with them seeing as the main reason it appears to have stalled is because of the extra money, the extra funding? Will you be pushing ahead with the other things?
PM: In terms of school education?
JOURNALIST: No, in terms of the funding this morning, in terms of more scrutiny on political donations.
PM: In terms of the future of any of those proposals, we'll work that through.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, should David Feeney be preselected in the seat of Bradman [sic]?
PM: It's actually Batman. The former minister Ferguson announced to the parliament yesterday that he won't be contesting the next election.
The preselection process isn't even underway yet so I haven't got any comments.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are states and territories like the ACT and Western Australia being punished under Gonski, not getting very much money because they have very, very good education systems, they're not getting as much money, are they?
PM: Certainly not. The architecture of this reform, and this is the fundamental principle which is about fairness to our children and building our nation's future; we want every child to reach their full potential but we can only be a strong, prosperous country in the future if our kids get a world-class education.
So whether or not you're a parent, it matters to all of us what the quality of what's happening in Australian classrooms is.
The way in which this reform works is that we would be able to be assured that for every school around the country they have available to them the right amount of resources to teach the kids in that school.
The school resource standard with loadings for disadvantages that kids can bring to school, so children with the most need have more money directed towards the schools that they're taught in.
So this is a great reform right around the nation.
Yes, it's true that some jurisdictions are closer to the school resource standard than others, that's absolutely right, but I want to live in a nation where we can say every school in every state, in every territory, for every child, has the resources available to it to get the children in that school a great education.
JOURNALIST: What did you make of the speech by Tony Abbott yesterday about Martin Ferguson in parliament?
PM: I made my remarks in parliament on Mr Ferguson.
JOURNALIST: What did you make of Tony Abbott's speech?
PM: I made my own remarks yesterday.
JOURNALIST: You speak of Mr Abbott reneging on his agreement? Isn't it just part of the political process where you listen to what your electorate says and what your backbenchers say? Isn't it a sign of his leadership, one might say, that he actually decided to listen to those concerns?
PM: I think what actually happened here is Mr Abbott's leadership team rolled Mr Abbott.
I think what's happened here is Mr Abbott's leadership team have said that Mr Abbott is not up to the job, and if his closest colleagues don't think he's up to the job then why should anybody else?
JOURNALIST: Are you concerned that today's good announcement, this victory you've had with Gonski sign-up, that it could get overshadowed by something like a sandwich being thrown at you?
PM: That's a question for you.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you have on various occasions changed your mind on issues and you've defended your right to do so. Is this not what Tony Abbott is doing, and should he not have the same right to change his mind?
PM: I direct you to the words of the letter.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you have been strong on getting more women into parliament. Do you think there's room perhaps for you to exert some of your influence when it comes to the seat of Batman? Do you think maybe a woman should be in that seat?
PM: The preselection process hasn't started yet and I'm not making any comments on it.
Okay, thank you very much.