Great victory for Gonski in Tasmania

Tasmanians have voted resoundingly for Gonski needs-based school funding, turfing out all three Liberal members of the House of Representatives who opposed the policy, the AEU said today.

“The people of Tasmania have resoundingly rejected Malcolm Turnbull’s plan to cut more than $70 million in Gonski funding from our schools,” said Helen Richardson, AEU Tasmanian Branch President.

“Tasmanians have resoundingly rejected Turnbull’s plan to cut funding to public schools and his policy to abandon needs-based school funding that would hit Tassie schools the hardest.”

A Sky News national exit poll found that education was the second most important issue that determined people’s vote, behind health.

“This is a momentous day for education in Tasmania with the three Liberal ‘amigos’ who opposed Gonski sacked by their electorates.”

“Tasmania is now the ‘Gonski state’ with all Federal Lower House MPs and the State Liberal Government supporting the needs-based funding model that everyone knows works.”

“We have a unique consensus in Tasmania about the need for Gonski and its effectiveness in lifting the educational achievements of our kids.”

“All newly elected MPs, and whoever forms Government, should be able to agree on the only evidence-based plan that is in place for education in Australia and that’s Gonski.”

Tasmanian teachers and support staff stepped up their long-running Gonski campaign ahead of the Federal Election with doorknocking, advertising, phone blitzes and school and community events in every corner of the state.

“The parents we spoke to consistently named education as a key concern for them and they wanted their schools properly funded to ensure their child received a quality education that met their individual needs.”

State Liberal Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff has said if Gonski was cut it would entrench disadvantage in Tasmania for generations to come.

“We know Gonski works and is getting results because it enables smaller class sizes, more individual attention for students and tailored help in vital areas like reading, writing and maths.

“We have many students with learning challenges in Tasmania and teachers cannot keep doing more with less and that’s why Gonski, that properly equips schools to meet student need, is so vital.”
Helen Richardson, AEU Tasmanian Branch President