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Nick Xenophon Team 'optimistic' on Gonski 2.0 deal – politics live
Nick Xenophon Team 'optimistic' on Gonski 2.0 deal – politics live
(35 minutes later)
3.08am BST
03:08
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie is critical of the government’s lack of consultation with the Catholic sector. She says the Coalition is always waiting until the last minute and then tries to push legislation through while blaming the chaotic senate.
She also criticises Labor for claiming they implemented the full Gonski when their model was a compromise on the “true Gonski”. She said Labor’s system has not improved the Tasmanian system.
3.05am BST
03:05
3.04am BST
03:04
Nick Xenophon up now in the Senate.
He says David Gonski’s appearance at the Turnbull press conference was an endorsement of the bill.
I strongly support the intent of the legislation but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.
Xenophon says the fast-tracking of the funding means the schools will get to the School Resourcing Standard in six years rather than 10.
He says the states’ requirement to maintain their end of the funding is important.
He strongly supports an independent body to monitor the funding model, including the socioeconomic model which is such a concern to the Catholic sector.
Xenophon says Labor’s Gonski was a flawed “knock-off” of the original report which perpetuated special deals.
The $22bn is Labor’s promise … they have not been able to follow through on it.
He says it is not comparing apples with apples but imaginary pears.
Xenophon will not vote against a bill that provides extra funding and a better model.
This will be a good outcome for students around the country and I don’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
Updated
at 3.07am BST
2.57am BST
02:57
Malcolm Roberts has spoken on the Gonski report. It involved East and West Germany and his kids’ Montessori school.
Updated
at 3.04am BST
2.53am BST
02:53
The cross-media ownership bill passed the lower house and will sit in the Senate queue.
Updated
at 3.05am BST
2.45am BST
02:45
@DavidLeyonhjelm says won't vote for any Gonski deal that increases spending, esp the 6-year bring forward.
2.38am BST
02:38
Greens senator Janet Rice is speaking on Gonski 2.0.
She says the Labor claim that the Turnbull plan cuts $22bn in school funding is meaningless.
It is a cut of what Labor promised at the 2016 election, not a cut on the status quo. That is, if this bill does not pass, schools will not get $22bn extra over the next decade. She says if Labor wanted to lock in that $22bn, they should have locked it in in 2013 before the election that brought Abbott to power.
They chose not to do this because they wanted to use school funding in political game playing.
Updated
at 3.06am BST
2.29am BST
2.29am BST
02:29
02:29
With NXT, PHON and Hinch (8 votes) pro, govt only needs 2/3 of Lambie, Gichuhi and Leyonhjelm to do #Gonski deal without Greens #auspol
With NXT, PHON and Hinch (8 votes) pro, govt only needs 2/3 of Lambie, Gichuhi and Leyonhjelm to do #Gonski deal without Greens #auspol
2.29am BST
2.29am BST
02:29
02:29
Chair of the senate committee which inquired into Gonski 2.0, speaking in support of the legislation.
Chair of the Senate committee which inquired into Gonski 2.0, speaking in support of the legislation.
Updated
at 3.06am BST
2.24am BST
2.24am BST
02:24
02:24
Speaking list on Gonski 2.0.
Speaking list on Gonski 2.0.
COLLINS
COLLINS
McKIMM
McKIMM
FAWCETT
FAWCETT
BERNARDI
BERNARDI
HANSON
HANSON
McKENZIE
McKENZIE
RICE (speaking now)
RICE (speaking now)
WATT
WATT
LAMBIE
LAMBIE
MCCARTHY
MCCARTHY
CHISHOLM
CHISHOLM
LINES
LINES
O’NEILL
O’NEILL
PRATT
PRATT
URQUHART
URQUHART
ROBERTS
ROBERTS
BIRMINGHAM
BIRMINGHAM
2.18am BST
2.18am BST
02:18
02:18
Barnaby Joyce was asked this morning about his Nationals colleague George Christensen crossing the floor over the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates.
Barnaby Joyce was asked this morning about his Nationals colleague George Christensen crossing the floor over the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates.
He says the Nats believe in freedom more than any other party (on some things ... I’m thinking marriage equality not so).
He says the Nats believe in freedom more than any other party (on some things ... I’m thinking marriage equality not so).
Barnaby, who crossed the floor 28 times as a young senator, says the Greens never cross the floor.
Barnaby, who crossed the floor 28 times as a young senator, says the Greens never cross the floor.
Were they all born peas in a pod?
Were they all born peas in a pod?
In the Nats, they can cross the floor though they can expect “some time in Coventry, otherwise known as the seat of Dawson”.
In the Nats, they can cross the floor though they can expect “some time in Coventry, otherwise known as the seat of Dawson”.
Looks at George. George smiles.
Looks at George. George smiles.
Updated
Updated
at 2.23am BST
at 2.23am BST
2.10am BST
2.10am BST
02:10
02:10
Bipartisan ball sports.
Bipartisan ball sports.
2.09am BST
02:09
Smile and wave boys, smile and wave.
Updated
at 2.13am BST
2.04am BST
02:04
Bill Shorten also disassociates Labor from CFMEU warning
Bill Shorten has joined Anthony Albanese in disassociating himself from Victorian CFMEU official John Setka’s remarks targeting the families and communities of Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) inspectors.
I repudiate in the strongest terms what was said yesterday. I understand there is frustration about penalty cuts, that construction workers have a separate set of laws for them but bad laws get changed at elections. Bad laws get changed at the ballot box. Federal Labor disassociate ourselves from the remarks that were made yesterday.
1.57am BST
01:57
Nick Xenophon Team: We are very optimistic on Gonski 2.0
Paul Karp
Nick Xenophon Team education spokeswoman, Rebekha Sharkie, told Guardian Australia “things are going really well, we’re very optimistic we’ll come to a finalised position with the government [on its schools package] this morning”.NXT’s demands were:
For the package to be rolled out in six years, not 10
A national schools resource body
A requirement on the states to be compelled to give 75% of the school resource standard to public schools; and
A review of the SES model for needs-based funding.
Asked if they had reached in-principle agreement and were just waiting for a deal in writing, Sharkie said: “Yes, that’s exactly right, but a deal’s not a deal until it’s in writing”.
1.54am BST
01:54
Shorten turns up the heat: Greens are in danger of a GST moment
Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten are speaking in a Catholic school playground in Canberra.
Shorten says the former Australian Education Union president Diane Foggo was wrong when she appealed to Labor and her old union to allow this bill to pass for the sake of students.
They say the education bill represents a $22bn cut. (This is based on what Labor promised at the last election).
He hits back at Richard Di Natale’s claims that Labor has chosen politics over fixing its flawed Gonski 1.0 model.
The Greens are divided. I think they are a protest looking for a cause. The problem for them in education is that they are in danger of having one of those moments on the GST. People might remember the Democrats were going to keep bastards honest. Then they used to sell out on the GST. I hope Senator Di Natale does not sell out government schools and blows the Catholic schools to this government for a few trinkets.
He says the government and the Greens should “park the legislation”.
Updated
at 1.55am BST
1.34am BST
01:34
Anthony Albanese: CFMEU official's warning shocked me
Senior Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has given a CFMEU official a whack over reports of threats in the Oz.
Ewin Hannan’s reports Victorian construction union boss John Setka has threatened to reveal the home addresses of ABCC inspectors and lobby their local shopping centres and football clubs to ensure their “kids will be ashamed of who their parents are”.
Setka told a rally:
Labelling the nation’s leading builders as “corrupt”, Mr Setka told 20,000 union protesters in Melbourne the ABCC inspectors were “f..kers trying to take us to court and jail us”.
“Let me give a dire warning to the ABCC inspectors: be careful what you do,’’ he said, claiming that many did not have their names on the electoral roll.
“They have got to lead these secret little lives because they are ashamed of what they do,” he said. “You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to expose them all.
“We will lobby their neighbourhoods. We will tell them who lives in that house. What he does for a living, or she. We will go to their local football club. We will go to the local shopping centre.
“They will not be able to show their faces anywhere. Their kids will be ashamed of who their parents are when we expose all these ABCC inspectors.
“If they think they are going to walk around and desecrate construction workers, take away our rights, and then ride off into the sunset, and there’s going to be no consequences, well, they’re in for a big surprise.’’
Albo welcomed Setka’s reporting to the police.
I find it extraordinary that any Australians would raise kids in particular. That just made me, just shocked that anyone would raise people’s families for goodness sake of people who are employed in work.
I think the idea that people should be targeted is completely reprehensible. It’s been reported to the police, my understanding is. And that’s appropriate.
Updated
at 1.37am BST
1.25am BST
01:25
Chris Bonnor and Bernie Shepherd are education policy experts who have both long campaigned for Gonski implementation for equity in school funding.
They have been watching the school funding train wreck for years, analysing the dollars, considering the options and this is what they think.
Before they vote, legislators might like to consider what the Centre for Policy Development analysis of the latest My School data shows: the failure to implement Gonski 1.0 has made a bad school equity and achievement situation worse. The wrong decision on Gonski 2.0 might make it irreparable.
The priority this week is to put in place arrangements which will deliver for the long term. In particular, fast-tracking the funding boost to disadvantaged schools and creating a National Schools Resourcing Body to make it all happen have to be priorities.
These two things weren’t done after Gonski 1.0 and the parlous state of current school funding and achievement is a part consequence. Let’s start with the money and where it went after Gonski reported the first time around.
Yes, we spent more money on schools, but we did not, across Australia, make sure the funding increasingly favoured those with the greatest need. And this is just on average: in money terms, large numbers of our struggling students and schools went backwards.
Why this happened is a long story which includes the patchy implementation of Gonski 1.0, but also reflects the special funding deals made to some school sectors – deals which have corrupted past attempts to fund schools on need.
The fast-tracking of funding and the independent funding body are two of the conditions already extracted by the Greens.
Updated
at 2.31am BST
1.18am BST
01:18
Education minister Simon Birmingham has just held a flash doorstop in a corridor. There was nothing much new in it, negotiations etc, think of the children etc.
I’ve always been a hopeful person and I remain hopeful.
He was asked if it will be resolved by Friday.
Hopefully.
1.07am BST
01:07
Argh! No decision from Greens party room meeting on Gonski 2.0
Paul Karp
The Greens party room meeting has concluded, and there’s been no final decision on the Gonski 2.0 package. The party is seeking more granular detail on government concessions – it seems like an abundance of caution rather than the leader, Richard Di Natale, and the education spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, failing to get the package through.
Updated
at 1.09am BST
12.59am BST
00:59
Debate on the Australian Education Amendment bill, AKA Gonski 2.0, has started in the Senate.
Labor senator Jacinta Collins has accused the government and the Greens of running a sectarian campaign against herself and the Catholic education sector.
Collins says Labor settled the school funding issue for good in government.
The Greens senator Nick McKim rises to take issue. He was Tasmania’s education minister at the time and was involved in Julia Gillard’s negotiations. He says of Collins’ claim that Labor fixed the school funding wars,
I have rarely heard a piece of spin that bears so little relationship with reality.
He says while Tasmania signed on, the national Gonski 1.0 agrements were a mish-mash of seperate agreements where some sectors win over others, some states were happy and others were not.
He says Labor claims to be the true champions of the public education system but they have not asked any questions on public schools.
Not one question on public schools from Labor. The DLP is back.
