Mr CAUSLEY —My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Is the minister aware of an industrial campaign to mislead the public over federal government funding for schools in New South Wales? What is the government doing to ensure access and choice for parents and students in New South Wales schools?

Dr KEMP (Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs;Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) —I thank the honourable member for Page for his question. I am aware of a dishonest and irresponsible campaign over Commonwealth funding for government schools currently being mounted by the New South Wales Teachers Federation. Their mouthpiece in this House, of course, is the member for Werriwa. The New South Wales Teachers Federation has embarked on what the Sydney Morning Herald in an editorial last Thursday described as a series of transparent political stunts in its campaign to misrepresent the nature of Commonwealth support for schooling in New South Wales.

It is worth making the point that this is the union that opposes literacy standards, that opposes proper reporting to parents, that prevents and opposes schools proactively helping school leavers to get jobs and has an abiding hatred of the right of parents to choose the school which best suits their child.

Last week, the union made the outrageous claim that 42 non-government schools in New South Wales were receiving the same amount of Commonwealth funding as 478 government schools. Let me put firmly on the record that this is absolutely and totally false. The union, in making this outrageous claim, compared the funding for government schools from one specific government program—formerly the disadvantaged schools program, now absorbed into the overall literacy program—with total funding for non-government schools. In other words, it compared one fraction of the Commonwealth funding for government schools with the total funding which the government provides to these non-government schools.

The facts are these: government schools in New South Wales this year will be receiving $520 million from the Commonwealth in direct funding, almost $50 million more than they received in the last year of the previous Labor government. What the Commonwealth is doing for government schools is not just about money. We have implemented the first national literacy plan, a series of initiatives to build quality in schooling, school based apprenticeships and the jobs pathway program.

Last week, the union irresponsibly called a two-hour strike to promote its untruths. This union is setting out with the Labor Party to damage and talk down government schools and parents' faith in government schooling. It is seeking to erode public support for government schooling by its untruthful campaign. This government will continue to fight for quality education for all Australian children and will defend the right of parents, particularly low income parents, to choose their own schools.