Education funding problems inherited from Labor government

20/7/93

Education Minister Norman Moore said today that in framing the State Budget, the Government faced a difficult job in redressing the previous 10 years of neglect inflicted on education by the Labor administration.

Mr Moore said the Commonwealth Grants Commission had found that in 1991-92 the Lawrence Government had spent about $110 million less than the 'all States standard' expenditure in Government education.

This was an index which calculated an average spent on education by each State, taking into account population and other factors.

Labor's last Budget allocation to education was less per capita than Victoria's - even after the Kennett cuts.

"Labor has left this State with this appalling education funding record, and the catch 22 is that they also worked up an $11 billion debt which makes the shortfall extremely difficult to redress," the Minister said.

"I cannot pre-empt the current Budget decisions, but the Coalition acknowledges the need for education to receive its fair share.  This share must be assessed in the light of the Labor legacy and the resulting financial problems.

"If the union movement, and the State School Teachers Union in particular, had been more diligent in pressuring the Labor administration to better manage taxpayers' funds, this State might not be in the tight financial position it is now."

Mr Moore said Labor's debt mountain still left a situation where the school system needed about $400 million to be spent on maintenance and upgrading, to bring buildings and facilities up to contemporary standards.

"The irony is that that the same union which disrupted the education of children and the lives of families, by calling its members out on strike over an ideas document (put forward for discussion about more effective education through flexibility at a local level) now seeks to present a responsible image in pre-budget posturing.

"I would welcome an effective solution from the union on how to solve this funding catch 22 - how to maintain the education system while also addressing Labor's debt legacy."

Media contact: Ross Storey 321 1444/222 9595