Minns says schooling funding would ‘make up for the hits’ NSW has taken
Chris Minns also spoke to the funding agreement and described it as a “gamechanger” for NSW.
If we want to compete in the world over the next 10 years, we need to make sure that we’re putting as much money and effort and resourcing into the next generation as possible.
The NSW premier said that by “any objective measure”, the Covid-19 pandemic “did have an impact on educational outcomes for young people in schools, whether they’re in public or private schools.”
What I can say, without fear of contradiction, is this investment from the commonwealth government will make up for the hits that we’ve taken in education over the last few years and see us jump into the future with the kind of investment that education desperately needs.
Key events
Rudd reaffirms fundamental bedrock of US alliance amid tumultuous week
Ben Doherty
Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, has re-affirmed the fundamental bedrock of the US alliance remains unchanged despite a tumultuous foreign policy week in the White House.
America’s relationship with its allies has been acutely strained by the last week – manifest most obviously in the public upbraiding of Ukrainian president Vlodomyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, and fracturing ties with Nato allies in Europe.
Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Australian National University in Washington DC, Rudd argued the Australian-US relationship extended beyond individual presidents and prime ministers, and beyond particular administrations and governments.
It’s a huge relationship. Remember, we are here in the midst of the largest economy in the world. We’re here in the midst of the most formidable military power in the world. We’re here in the midst of the most formidable technology, power in the world.
We are also in a country which is our longest continuing security policy partner through the Anzus Alliance, which is three-quarters-of-a-century old. So putting that together, there’s a lot of stuff going on.
So what brings these countries together over the ebbs and flows of individual administrations and governments back in Australia, some 14 US presidents in 16 Australian prime ministers over the last 75 years? It is that they’re anchored in our common view of democratic system, our common view of our national interests in terms of our underlying security.
Rudd said those “fundamentals tend not to change, but the relationship is beyond the alliance.”
It incorporates … this entire realm of the private sector. When you speak of the totality of this relationship, it’s both where we are in terms of G to G, government to government, but where we are G to B – government to business – and B to B [business to business] which is huge.
Albanese says Australia ‘open to consideration’ of peacekeeping proposals regarding Ukraine
Taking another question Anthony Albanese reiterated the government’s stance on Ukraine, and said “we stand with president Zelenskyy and the brave struggle of the people of Ukraine to defend their natural sovereignty”.
What they’ve fighting for is the international rule of law [and] Australia stands ready to assist. We have contributed $1.5bn with $1.3bn for military assistance directly.
There’s discussion at the moment about potential peacekeeping, and from my government’s perspective, we’re open to consideration of any proposals going forward, as Australia has historically played an important role in … a range of peacekeeping areas.
We want to see peace in Ukraine, but we want to make sure the illegal, immoral actions of Russia are not rewarded, and that Vladimir Putin and his designs, which are imperialistic, are not rewarded or encouraged.
Albanese lashes Dutton’s ‘thought bubbles’
Going back to the press conference in Sydney, where Anthony Albanese has been taking aim at Peter Dutton for his “thought bubbles”.
Albanese said Dutton called for a regional taxation, or zonal tax, so that “if you live in a particular area, you will pay a different tax rate from when you are in Sydney.”
Now, Peter Dutton is the alternative prime minister of this country. He needs to be held to account for these thought bubbles which come out day after day, and which are then dismissed and he walks away from once he says it.
So zonal taxation and and cutting or increasing the tax rates for everyone who’s a low and middle income earner is what he needs to be held to account for.
Waves up to 10m recorded off Brisbane and Gold Coast
Ben Smee
Waves of up to 10m have been recorded off parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast, as Tropical Cyclone Alfred now sits directly east of the south-east Queensland coast.
Wild surf conditions were at their peak late yesterday, when 9.59m waves were recorded off Brisbane at 11.30pm
The Tweed offshore monitoring station recorded waves of 8.95m waves at 3pm on Monday.
Waves higher than 6m were also recorded at several Gold Coast beaches including Palm Beach and the Southport Spit.
NSW deputy premier says school funding is not election pledge but signed deal
Taking another question, Jason Clare said the agreement signed today “makes sure this money rolls out”.
The only threat is if Peter Dutton is elected and passes legislation to rip it out.
The NSW deputy premier, Prue Car, added that this was not an election pledge but a signed document:
This is not an election commitment. This is something the commonwealth government and the state government actually have agreed to, and we’ve funded, that gives some surety to NSW public schools, that this is money that’s in the budget over the life of the agreement.
Why did it take an election to get funding over the line?
Taking questions from reporters, Jason Clare was asked why it has taken an election to get this funding over the line.
He said the “bottom line is this should have been done a decade ago,” and took aim at the Liberals:
The Liberal party, after promising not to cut funding to schools, ripped the guts out of public schools. They ripped $30bn out of our public schools. Guess where the $600bn will come from for the nuclear reactors? You can guess that it’s going to be things like this.
Clare went on, saying this was “not a blank cheque” but will be “tied to practical reforms that we know work”.
Clare says school funding will benefit children not yet born
The education minister, Jason Clare, is also fronting the media about the NSW school funding – describing this as “a massive day for public education”.
Until today, we’d signed agreements with six states and territories across the country, but this is the big one. This is NSW …
But it’s even bigger than that – this is about making sure that every child in this country gets a great start in life.
Clare said one in 10 children are below the minimum standard for literacy and numeracy, with the overwhelming majority of these in public schools.
This fixes that for them. And for the next generation of kids, for kids that aren’t even born yet, this will change their lives.
Minns says schooling funding would ‘make up for the hits’ NSW has taken
Chris Minns also spoke to the funding agreement and described it as a “gamechanger” for NSW.
If we want to compete in the world over the next 10 years, we need to make sure that we’re putting as much money and effort and resourcing into the next generation as possible.
The NSW premier said that by “any objective measure”, the Covid-19 pandemic “did have an impact on educational outcomes for young people in schools, whether they’re in public or private schools.”
What I can say, without fear of contradiction, is this investment from the commonwealth government will make up for the hits that we’ve taken in education over the last few years and see us jump into the future with the kind of investment that education desperately needs.
Albanese slams former Coalition government for education cuts
Anthony Albanese has taken aim at the former Coalition government for making cuts to education, stating that in the 2014 budget, there was $30bn “ripped out”.
He said ever since, Australia had been “trying to play catch up.”
There’s real world consequences for young Australians as a direct result of those cuts that were made. And indeed, public school completion rates dropped from 81% in 2014 to 73.6% in 2023.
At a time where Australia needs to compete on the basis of how smart we are … the idea that we’ve gone backwards over that decade, as a direct result of the cuts that were made by the former Coalition government, is an indictment on their values.
Albanese and Minns addressing media in Sydney
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and NSW premier, Chris Minns, are speaking to the media from Carlton Park primary school in Sydney.
The PM is announcing that NSW has secured a deal with the commonwealth to fully fund public schools by 2034, leaving Queensland as the country’s only outlier ahead of the federal election. Albanese said:
We want those doors of opportunity not just left open, but we want them widened, and that is why we have worked so hard to get now seven out of eight state and territory governments signed up to the national school resourcing standard that was identified more than a decade ago by David Gonski – in his landmark study looking at what do we need to do to lift every child up to make sure no child falls behind – and that is precisely what this commitment today has done.
He said this would provide a $4.8bn injection by the commonwealth, and would support about 770,000 public school students and more than 2000 schools.
This is the largest ever federal injection of funds into NSW schools ever by any government.
Catchments included in NSW flood watch
Continuing from our last post, here are the catchments currently listed in the flood watch for NSW:
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Tweed and Rous rivers: moderate to major flooding
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Brunswick River and Marshalls Creek: moderate to major flooding
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Wilsons River: moderate to major flooding
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Richmond River: moderate to major flooding
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Clarence River: moderate to major flooding
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Orara River: moderate to major flooding
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Coffs Coast
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Bellinger and Kalang rivers: moderate to major flooding
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Nambucca River: moderate to major flooding
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Macleay River: moderate to major flooding
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Hastings River: moderate to major flooding
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Camden Haven River: moderate to major flooding
