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Premier dismisses the Federal Government's proposed education reforms

Updated April 19, 2013 23:54:00

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman speaks to Emma Alberici about his state's position in negotiations at the Council of Australian Governments meeting.

Source: Lateline | Duration: 13min 6sec

Topics: government-and-politics, business-economics-and-finance, community-and-society, person, australia


EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: To discuss today's COAG negotiations and issues of federalism more generally, we were joined a short while ago but the Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman.

He's still refusing to adopt the Government's offer of $2 for every $1 the states and territories provide in new money for schools.

Campbell Newman, thanks very much for joining us.


EMMA ALBERICI: After five years of working including the involvement of five eminent Australians, do you accept Julia Gillard's description today of this $14.5 billion in new money for education that it represents the biggest opportunity in 40 years to make a difference to our children's futures?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Of course I do. I'm very enthusiastic about trying to reach an agreement and that's what I'm intending to go away and do. The Federal Government doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas and the States are the ones who ultimately are responsible for running schools and they have their own people, particularly principals and teachers and school communities, who I want to empower to actually do this.

That's why there are things that we have to sort out before there can be an agreement.

EMMA ALBERICI: You say that the Government hasn't got a monopoly on good ideas. This wasn't the Government. This was I think quite deliberately designed to achieve an outcome outside political interference by including five people across political persuasions, including members of various States and those involved directly in the education sector.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: It is easy to talk about some of the things that we would need to be sorted out and I think that would clarify the concerns that we have. There's a few things on the finances front and there are some things in relation to the way this should happen.

In terms of the dollars, the Prime Minister's confirmed today that she's after $1.3 billion from my State and the money that's required from the other States. I've actually already agreed to put $835 million on the table to improve school maintenance, to fix up all sorts of appalling problems around our States schools. Also, a very big program to actually improve teacher quality, have school autonomy, to actually ...

EMMA ALBERICI: But you're 400 ... pardon me for interrupting but that means your $465 million short.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: It does. I have a very big financial problem left to me by Anna Bligh and the Australian Labor Party only a year ago and I'm doing everything I can to deal with that.

Sadly, every time my government makes a tough but necessary decision, Julia Gillard's colleagues, people like Bill Shorten, Craig Emerson and Wayne Swan, always criticise us. We got a bit of lecture from the Prime Minister about making tough budgetary decisions.

Well that's what I say, one of the problems I have with the way that she's going about finding savings is to actually cut funding from our universities and particularly our students. That's something that shouldn't be happening.

EMMA ALBERICI: It comes down to a matter of choice, though, doesn't it, Premier? I mean you have to make choices about where money is best directed in Queensland and the Prime Minister, I guess, is asking you to prioritise education.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Absolutely. That's exactly what I want to do. $835 million is what's going on the table. What I want to do, though, is deal with a couple of other issues. I mentioned the university funding. I also want a long term funding agreement for our kindergartens. Currently we still have a situation where the Prime Minister will be ripping out about $88 million over the next six years.

EMMA ALBERICI: No, she has said, hasn't she said sorry ... that for the next 18 months it will be maintained as it currently is, the funding, and it is also probably worth noting that under the Howard government the States received nothing from Canberra for early education.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Emma, firstly, John Howard left office getting on for six years ago. Let's deal with what's happening now. We have a had a funding agreement, a national partnership agreement that was about to expire after a fair bit of pressure from the States, in what is only a very cynical move, we've got an extension for 18 months. So...

EMMA ALBERICI: Can you just clarify that though because Peter Garrett said only today that in November last year he put another proposal to extend that partnership worth $1.1 billion.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: I'll talk about what's happened today. Today they've agreed to extend it to the end of next year. After that the money runs dry and the Queensland Government ...

EMMA ALBERICI: Isn't that up for negotiation? I don't think they said it runs dry, haven't they said it's up for negotiation again?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Well this is the problem with these national partnerships. Why do we keep re-negotiating them? What we need is a long term funding stream for communities across the nation, for kindergartens, early childhood education across the nation. Right now what I have to say is that even with this, we're currently looking at an $88 million shortfall over the next six years.

My final big issue is the issue of the bureaucracy that goes with this. On the one hand, the Federal Government says they've agreed with our position, which is to improve school autonomy, to have principals and school boards running schools.

But then with these reforms comes a big requirement to fill out forms, undertake plans, to actually do things in the Government's way, the Federal Government's way, and these are state schools and Colin Barnett made that point. State schools, that is actually ceding control of schools to Canberra.

That's what the premiers believe. That's what I believe. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister at this stage won't compromise. If the Prime Minister had been prepared to compromise today, I think she would have gone a lot further towards getting an agreement. But I'm going to go away and do my best to come back to the Prime Minister in the next month or so before this June 30 deadline that she's laid down and actually make a proposal to her about how we implement this in Queensland.

EMMA ALBERICI: The Prime Minister, quoting from the Gonski Report, says she wants a nationally consistent approach to education, recognising that families do move across borders and want that assurance that their education continues pretty much uninterrupted and without too much discord. Do you have sympathy for that view?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Well Emma, I don't know if you're aware of my background but I was the son of an army officer and so my family moved around on a number of occasions. I'm absolutely sympathetic to that requirement. In fact, my mother who may be watching tonight, used to write letters to Ministers For Defence in the late 60s and early 70s and the ministers for education complaining about this very thing.

It is absolutely what we need to achieve. That's why we are having a national school curriculum. That's why in Queensland to be consistent with other States, we're moving year seven to high school. These are important things. To get better outcomes for our kids, we need to focus on teacher quality, training, skills, and also ...

EMMA ALBERICI: But shouldn't that be nationally consistent, the approach?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: I don't necessarily agree with that. I say that we're going down an approach. Indeed, in the Gonski reform model that we're going to have school autonomy. You can't have autonomy if you make everything do the same thing. It is totally inconsistent. You've got to have high level principals, a national curriculum, you've got to resource schools in a fair and equitable way and that's a great thing about the Gonski model.

You need people, leaders, school principals and senior teachers and the school community then make it happen. I'm very confident that that's the best way to go forward.

EMMA ALBERICI: You're already in dispute with the Federal Government over the National Disability Insurance Scheme. One does get the impression, Premier, that your resistance to the Prime Minister's plans are nothing more than politically motivated?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Well I counter that by saying this, Emma. We currently put $900 million, approximately, into disability support in Queensland. That's on a financial year basis. The Commonwealth puts in less than $300 million.

We've already made a commitment, notwithstanding anything else, under the NDIS we will double within five years that funding of $900 million to $1.8 million billion. At the moment we have a $200 million gap. In other words the Commonwealth says that's not enough we need another $200 million.

Again, we're going to do our best to find that money. We believe, though, the Commonwealth should be true to the original Productivity Commission report which said when the NDIS was first proposed by them that, the Commonwealth should provide the extra funding. They have the broad-based taxing powers.

Again, we want to reach an agreement but I put this to you: It is very clear, any insider, any inside the beltway people will tell you that Julia Gillard throughout the whole of last year had a policy and her people used to skite about it, that they were going to in the Federal election campaign actually go after Queensland, go after my government, and me personally, and that has been an ongoing political strategy.

EMMA ALBERICI: Don't you go after her personally? On the issue of anti-gang laws, for instance, you've conflated the issue of asylum seekers and tackling organised crime. Clearly, that's inflammatory and frankly a nonsense.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: I don't agree. If you can't stop boats and secure our borders and the Howard government did, then how you can be trusted to do more grown up things, if I may be a bit tongue in cheek, like fight organised crime, criminal gangs? You don't know when the next boat is going to appear off Geraldton.

EMMA ALBERICI: How are the two connected in any way whatsoever when involves international networks and other countries, political and economic conflict offshore and one involves national law and order?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Emma, I'll say this, if I walk down to my Ashgrove electorate tomorrow and talk to people, with the greatest of respect to you, they will see what I'm saying. I know from talking to Queenslanders they roll their eyes about a Government that tries to take powers away from States when they actually can't deliver on the things they're meant to do under the Constitution.

They weren't able to roll out an insulation program in people's homes without burning down homes. We still don't have the laptop computers that were promised on all the school desks. We had billions of dollars wasted rolling out school halls because they wouldn't let the right level of government deliver that properly.

I mean I could go on. This Government doesn't deliver things well. They should go back and we need to properly define the roles and responsibilities and our Federation. We need to end the duplication, the waste and inefficiency and that is what COAG should be talking about at the moment because it isn't working and I want to make it work. All I'm after is some willingness from the Prime Minister to actually make that one of the top issues.

EMMA ALBERICI: Finally, Premier, what was your reaction to the news that New Zealand had passed laws in favour of marriage equality?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: My position is well known and I believe some two years ago I said that personally I supported that. I have not been an advocate though because I think people need time to change and I know there are many people who feel quite vehemently against my point of view. It is not something that I run around pushing but that has been my view.

We all know today that Barry O'Farrell has made a similar statement. In time this will come. That's something ultimately that's a Federal government matter.

EMMA ALBERICI: Is it time in your view for the federal Parliament to hold a conscience vote on the matter?

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: The Prime Minister had that opportunity. The current Prime Minister's already failed on that one as well.

EMMA ALBERICI: Tony Abbott has been against the idea.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: That's up to him. I'm not going to give him gratuitous advice because he's not the Prime Minister. I can assure you thought if you want to know how fair dinkum I am about putting Queensland before any political party, I'll say this while I've got the opportunity this evening.

I'm after some things from Tony Abbott. I would like a very big funding commitment to the Bruce Highway upgrade in Queensland. It is a disgraceful road.

Thirty to 40 people are projected by the RACQ - sadly - and this is a gruesome statistic, projected to die each year over the next 10 years because of the dangerous condition of that road and it floods regularly. I'm after money from both Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard. They should make commitments. The other thing I'm after from Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard again going back to what I said before, someone has to stand up and say I want to be Prime Minister after September. I'm going to sit down and craft a new agreement, a new deal with the States, to properly make our Federation work.

EMMA ALBERICI: We have to leave it there Campbell Newman. Thanks very much for taking the time to speak to us.

CAMPBELL NEWMAN: Thanks, Emma. Thanks indeed.