Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Education spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said that private schools will be able to spend the $1.2 billion ‘Choice and Affordability’ slush fund with enormous discretion. Flexible guidelines for the fund have been released as parliament debates handing out a further $3.4 billion for private schools.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Private schools will have enormous freedom to spend this public money on practically whatever they want. Meanwhile, public schools continue to suffer without having their basic needs met.
“This latest handout reflects the Liberal government’s obsession with giving out cash to already over-funded private schools. The Greens have warned about this from the start.
“Now the Government has a bill before parliament that would gift a further $3.4 billion to private schools. I urge the Opposition and crossbench to oppose this bill and stop the handouts and special deals.
“It’s way past time to prioritise public school funding and stand up to the private school lobbies.”
