Malcolm Turnbull has suggested public schools may lose federal funding if the states are able to raise their own revenue under a new tax plan, while funding for private schools would continue.
Mr Turnbull yesterday revealed a radical tax overhaul that would reduce the federal government's income tax collection and allow states and territories to raise the remainder to pay for their hospitals and schools.
In return, the Commonwealth would reduce the grants it hands to the states, meaning no extra money.
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Speaking on ABC Radio Thursday, Mr Turnbull said future school funding should form part of the current discussion about tax changes.
"We believe that the future of this funding (post 2017) should be bound up with these discussions about revenue sharing," he said.
"You could make a very powerful case for example that, if there was a revenue sharing, if the states had access to a portion of income tax, that they would have the resources and the money [to] have the responsibility for state schools."
"I suspect no federal government would retreat from funding and continuing to support the non-government school sector because there would be a concern that they would not get a fair go from state governments who obviously would have a competing interest with their schools.”
"You could make a very powerful case for example that, if there was a revenue sharing, if the states had access to a portion of income tax, that they would have the resources and the money [to] have the responsibility for state schools."
"That would be a question to ask the education ministers: does the education minister in Canberra know better how to run a primary school in Tasmania or South Australia or Western Australia than the education minister in those states?"
Bill Shorten condemned the plan, tweeting that Mr Turnbull "isn’t fit to be PM".
As a press conference in Sydney, Mr Shorten said Australians would get less funding for schools and hospitals under the Turnbull government.
"Mr Turnbull has virtually run up the white flag on his government’s support for state schools," he said.
"He has said he wants state governments to take over the funding of state schools entirely."
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Australian Education Union deputy president Maurie Mulheron said the prime minister's comments appeared to confirm the end of federal funding of government schools under the coalition.
"Locking in a system where state governments have full responsibility for public schools and the federal government for private schools is locking in inequity and would be the end of needs-based Gonski funding," Mr Mulheron said.
"Schools don't care whether their funding comes from the state or federal government - they just care about whether they have the funds to meet the needs of their students."
-With AAP
