MINISTER FOR EDUCATION

PARLIAMENT HOUSE

1  CANBERRA A.C.T.

Ministerial No. 27 27th June 1977

PRESS STATEMENT BY COMMONWEALTH MINISTER

FOR EDUCATION, SENATOR THE HON. J.L. CARRICK

Recent statements by the Tasmanian Minister for Education, Mr Batt, have been designed deliberately to distort and grossly  to understate the Federal Government's continuing contribution  to education in an attempt to hide his own Government's significant

failures in this field.

For the past year or more Mr Batt has talked incessantly of  Federal Government cuts in education. The Tasmanian people  should know that the only cuts in education from Canberra were  made by the Whitlam Labor Government in its August 1975 Budget.

That Federal Government - a Government supported by Mr Batt ~  cut education by a mammoth $105 million for the calendar year  1976. Capital funds for school building alone were slashed by  $85 million. Triennial funding was set aside and student  allowances were frozen at June 1974 cost levels.

And where was Mr Batt1s righteous indignation then?

For the current calendar year the FraÂ§er Government has increased  education spending in real money terms in all spheres of education  - by 2% in universities and schools, 5% in colleges and 7\% in  TAFE, and student allowances have been substantially increased.

In 1978 Federal education expenditure will be $1,740 million,  by contrast with $1,729 million this year in real money terms.

And what does Mr Batt do? He cries cuts again and now seeks  to blame all the deficiencies in technical education in Tasmania  upon the Federal GovernmentÃ¢ÂÂ

The Tasmanian people should know that technical education is  wholly a State Government responsibility. The Federal Government  simply provides a topping up of funds. * ’ Â·  *

In blunt terms, if there are defects in technical and school  education in Tasmania, Mr Batt and his Government are fully to  blame.

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It is no use them trying to cry poor-mouth, their Government was  able to achieve a healthy budget surplus,  It could have given  education more funds and chose not to do so.

Last week the Commonwealth invited the States to commence  discussions into how the two forms of Government could best  co-operate in order to improve quality of education to the  communityÂ»

The Federal Government made it clear that it was not intending  to reduce the overall quantity of its educational commitment. It simply wanted to see if there were better ways to share the  task, in technical education, for example.

As usual Mr Batt sought to misrepresent the Commonwealth approach  as one of withdrawal and diminution of effort on its part and  a forcing of the States to take a bigger share of the burden.  There is not an atom of truth in his claim.

Mr Batt can't go blaming his failures on others. He is the one  responsible for education in his State yet he seeks the perpetual  alibi.

In the interests of good education, that alibi must be destroyed.

