The Australian Greens have reaffirmed their commitment to Australian public schools during today’s Senate inquiry hearing into the government’s proposed schools funding plan.

"We stand with public schools and their principals who have told the Senate today that the current law is not good enough, but that it's also not fair to make kids in underfunded schools wait ten years to catch up to their peers in wealthier schools,” the Greens’ education spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens will fight against the Government’s cruel higher education reform package, which will be introduced in the House of Representatives today.

“This Bill cuts willy-nilly from the University sector with zero regard for how it will affect staff, students and learning. The Greens will continue to fight against this Government’s archaic policy of forcing universities to do more with less every year,” Greens education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens stand in solidarity with students protesting around the country today against the government's harsh university cuts.

"This government's attacks on students will not go unnoticed and will not go unchallenged," Greens higher education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"The Greens stand in solidarity with students protesting against these cruel and unnecessary cuts.

Statement from Australian Greens education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young:

I would like to clarify the Greens position on the government's schools funding bill.

The Greens have not yet made a decision on the Government’s schools legislation. 
The Australian Greens Party Room is carefully considering this matter and will be consulting widely on this in coming weeks. Parents and teachers can rest assured that we are rock solid in our support for public schools and fair, needs-based funding. 

Malcolm Turnbull has proven he has his priorities wrong if he thinks he can foster a clever country by cutting $3.8 billion from universities, while planning to loan $1 billion to Adani for a useless coalmine.

“It is ludicrous to think Malcolm Turnbull wants to lend money to Adani for a coalmine that no-one wants, no questions asked, yet he is pinching pennies when it comes to building a clever country.

The Australian Greens will refer the Government’s education legislation to a senate inquiry when parliament returns next week, to ensure the proposed changes get the best outcome for the public school system.

“We need to cut through the political game-playing and make sure these changes are properly considered,” Greens education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“While Labor and the Liberals bicker over how much money the Catholic school system would get under these changes, only the Greens are determined to get the best outcome for public schools.

Schools funding in Australia needs to be reformed to reflect a genuine needs based model, but that can’t be done by cutting funding across the country, the Australian Greens have said in response to today’s announcement from the government.

“We'll look at the detail of this announcement, but what we know is that Australia’s school funding system is broken,” the Greens’ education spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“It's time our children's education was prioritised in Australia. It’s a sad reality that many of our kids are being left behind.

The Australian Greens will vote against the Government’s assault on students and young people in its cruel university funding model.

“By investing less in education and more in coal, this Government is screwing over Australian students and young people, yet again,” Greens education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens are concerned that, in the lead up to the Federal Budget, the government’s loyalties seem to lie with property investors and foreign owned mining companies over Australian university students.

“Cutting a billion dollars from our universities while driving up fees for students is a regressive, unfair and stupid idea,” the Greens’ education and finance spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens have slammed the Turnbull Government for its planned attack on Australian university students in the 2017 budget.

“This is Malcolm Turnbull shaping up for a 2017 Budget that is an all-out assault on students. The Government is doing nothing about the tax rorts for wealthy investors, pushing up house prices and making rent more expensive, and now they’re hitting students with $100,000 degrees,” Greens education and finance spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.