By chief political correspondent Emma Griffiths
Photo: Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne announce school funding deals (AAP: Stefan Postles)
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The Government has moved to quash criticism that it was breaking a promise over schools funding, announcing it will honour Labor's Gonski commitments for four years and boost spending to those states that had not signed up by $1.2 billion.
In a surprise move, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Education Minister Christopher Pyne have announced "in-principle" agreements with Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
"We now have a fair and national deal - the Government will put the $1.2 billion that Labor took out back into school funding over the next four years," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Pyne says it means there will be no "second-class" students in Australia.
"I've set about since the election, over the last 11 weeks, talking with all of my state colleagues, but particularly those non-funded states to talk about how we might be able to repair the damage left to us," he said.
"I'm pleased to say that we will now be able to put $1.2 billion into these three jurisdictions. That means there are no second-class students because of Labor's cuts before the election."
The $1.2 billion refers to additional funding Labor had offered under its schools funding model but which was not allocated because those states - led by conservative governments - had not signed up to the Gonski model.
The Government has been under fire over its stance on schools funding, accused of breaking an election promise made by Mr Abbott, who had said the Coalition was on a "unity ticket" with Labor on the issue.
Last week Mr Pyne announced the government would have to go back to the "drawing board" and renegotiate all school funding deals.
The move triggered a row with governments in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and the ACT, who made funding agreements with Labor.
The Prime Minister defended the apparent reversal yesterday, saying the Government would deliver its election promises, not what some voters "thought" it had promised.
But today's announcement means the funding deals signed with Labor will stand, with Mr Abbott now saying the government's "intention" is to honour the agreements "to the letter".
"I suspect that New South Wales and Victoria will be happy to lose the Canberra command and control elements of those deals but certainly the financial arrangements for the next four years will be absolutely adhered to," he said.
The Coalition Government wants to "dismantle" the regulations and red tape associated with Labor's deal, saying it does not want to "run public schools out of Canberra".
It will shelve Labor's ideas of imposing management plans for states' schools systems, setting up Canberra-based inspectors and gathering extra data in Canberra.
It has also not committed to the full six years of funding proposed by Labor.
States welcome news of 'spectacular backflip'
New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell has welcomed today's announcement, saying on Twitter: "Great decision on education funding by PM. Demonstrates he listens & is will work with the States on national issues."
Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has also welcomed the news, saying it is a "victory for those who have been fighting hard to maintain the funding through Gonski".
But she added: "What we want is not just for want a commitment over the forward estimates of the budget, but we want a commitment right through to that 18 to 19 years which is what we all signed up for."
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has welcomed the Government's decision, but says he will also continue to lobby the Commonwealth to fund the final two years of the deal.
The ACT's Education Minister Joy Burch says today's announcement is at odds with the conversation she had with Mr Pyne on Friday.
"This is an absolutely spectacular backflip and it really doesn't give me much confidence in the ongoing planning and commitment to education in Australia, but that said what we have is a return to at least four years of guaranteed funding," she said.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says he wants more details on the Government's announcement.
"We're not going to go through this pantomime again for another couple of weeks. We want to completely concede the position he started to unravel a few weeks ago, put us back from where we started from, recommit to all the things they promised before the election," he said.
"But can I say we're standing here today because people stood up and fought the Federal Government on behalf of their states."
Announcement neutralises Shorten's attacks
The Government's about-face appears to have caught the Labor Party flat-footed, effectively neutralising its attack which was primed for today's parliamentary Question Time.
The Opposition asked no less than eight questions of the Prime Minister, based on the Government's previous stance that it would not abide by the funding deal.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten rounded off the series of questions by asking "when will the Prime Minister stop lying?" - a phrase he was forced to withdraw.
The questions gave the Prime Minister the opportunity to criticise Labor over its failure to secure a national agreement on schools funding while in government.
"I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that this Government is cleaning up Labor's mess," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Shorten then moved the new parliament's first motion of censure in the Prime Minister, "for breaking his promise to parents and children across Australia that no school will be worse off under his Government".
But the Government used its numbers to instead censure the Opposition Leader for cutting funding to the hold-out states and "failing to achieve a national, fair and needs-based school funding mode".
The $15.2 billion Better Schools Plan was based on recommendations made by a review panel which was chaired by businessman David Gonski.
Sixty-five per cent of the additional money was slated to come from federal coffers with the rest contributed by states and territories.
