According to Federal Labor, its recently launched Your Child. Our Future education plan will address Australia’s falling school standards, ‘ensuring that every Australian school – and every Australian child – will benefit’.

Labor is deeply concerned that schooling is falling behind Australia’s international competitors, presenting a significant threat to the nation’s future prosperity.

In 2000, only one country out-performed Australia in reading and maths, and only two countries out-performed Australia in science.

Today, 16 countries are out-performing Australia in maths; nine countries out-perform us in reading; and seven countries are ahead in science.

Labor believes that its policy will reverse the slide in ranking. The policy recognises that education is a key driver in economic growth and the capacity to innovate. Labor promises that when next in government, the policy will provide the necessary resources and investment to ensure Australia’s future prosperity.

Labor’s Your Child. Our Future education plan enshrines:
• A strong focus on each child’s needs;
• More individual attention for students;
• Better trained teachers – and more of them;
• Better equipped classrooms; and
• More support for students with learning needs.

The new plan, according to Labor, will drive opportunity, innovation and the economy through education.

Your Child. Our Future will see an additional investment in our education system of $4.5 billion over the school years 2018 and 2019 and a total provision of $37.3 billion for the package over the decade.

The policy recognises that, by 2030, if we equip all Australian high school graduates with the skills needed in a global economy, it will be the equivalent of adding 2.8 per cent to our GDP today.

You can read more about the Your Child. Our Future plan here.

Now that the GST is ‘off the table’, the Turnbull Government is negotiating with the Greens on negative gearing and reducing super concessions. Except those were not issues of central contention between the Government and Opposition. Only Treasurer Scott Morrison baulked on negative gearing and tinkered with a soft approach for self-funded retirees.

The plan is patently clear: create the perception that the Federal Opposition is irrelevant to the debate while aligning tax reform policies more closely to those of Labor. This should defuse a  potential electoral backlash from a GST increase and add to the already healthy government majority in the House of Representatives at the next election. The logical objective is to win control of the Senate and the stage will be set to administer tough economic medicine, including an increase to the GST.

Frank Carroll