Transcript - Doorstop, Canberra

JOURNALIST: As for school funding legislation going to Parliament. How are you expecting that debate to play out?

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Today I'll introduce legislation to increase funding for our public schools. Education is the most powerful force for good in this country and the truth is our public schools do most of the heavy lifting. But most public schools across the country at the moment aren't funded at that David Gonski level, apart from the ACT, no other state or territories funded at that David Gonski level called the Schooling Resource Standard. 
I've done deals with Western Australia and with Tasmania and the Northern Territory to get public schools in those jurisdictions to that level and I'm hoping to do deals with other jurisdictions as well. But at the moment, the Australian Education Act prohibits the Commonwealth Government from providing more than 20 per cent of that funding to the States and the Territories for our public schools. So, the legislation turns that maximum into a minimum or turns that ceiling into a floor so that funding can flow to children who really need it.

JOURNALIST: The cash is now tied to teaching reforms. The union's not happy. Where are you at with negotiations with the union to try to get them over the line, on you know, removing that boycott that they've put in?

CLARE: I think most people who look at this, whether it's the States or the unions, know how important these reforms are. In fact, many of the reforms have come at the recommendation of States, of Territories and of the union. In particular, things like catch-up tutoring, really practical, basic, important reforms that make sure that if a child falls behind when they're little, they have the support that they need to catch up and then to keep up. I've got $16 billion on the table here. If delivered, it'll be the biggest extra investment in public schools by the Commonwealth Government ever. Ever. And that's on the table. But it's not a blank cheque. It's got to be tied to these practical reforms to make a difference for our children.

JOURNALIST: When it comes to universities, the Senate inquiry handed down its recommendations last night. It's saying that you can pass legislation with a few amendments. What did you make and what was your reaction to those proposed amendments, particularly removing the ministerial power for certain course caps?

CLARE: We'll look at that. I've said in the Parliament, and I've said in a recent conference that I'm very open to looking at any recommendations that are made by the committee to improve the Bill. We'll go through that report now and have a look at that. In particular, the one you mentioned about whether you set caps for courses. I've described that in the past as a reserve power, but we'll look carefully at the recommendations of that report. There's certainly advice to me that that's important in the VET sector, where it's important to make sure that we're not encouraging certain private providers in the VET sector to entice people into courses that don't give them a real qualification. There is an equally powerful case set that may not be necessary at a university or TAFE level. So, we'll look at that and give it due consideration.

JOURNALIST: Is that something that you would look at amending, is the splitting that out to maybe quarantine that into a job?

CLARE: It's one of the things we'll look at. But the report talked about a number of changes that could be made to the Bill, so we'll go through that now. The Bill was introduced in May. It's been the subject of a lot of consideration by that committee. The committee's now recommended that the Bill be passed. I now hope that the Senate will get on with it and consider the Bill.

JOURNALIST: Obviously, you know, it is a huge industry for Australia. It's also a huge, you know, can be a strain, international students can be a strain on housing, especially at the current time. How important is it that you get these caps or this legislation through so that they can be capped for the new year, I guess, the new university year?

CLARE: It's really important to protect the integrity of our international education system, but it's also important to protect public support for international education. I make no apology, the Government makes no apology for our commitment to return migration to pre-pandemic levels. And this is part of that. International education is really important. It makes us money as a country, it makes us friends as a country, because when people study here and they go home, they take their love for Australia back home with them. But it is also important that we return migration to pre pandemic levels, and this is one part of doing that.

JOURNALIST: So, can you get the amendments done and the legislation passed before the new year?

CLARE: Yeah, we hope so.