[originaltext]W: One of those ministers who had to go into the chamber to vote

W: One of those ministers who had to go into the chamber to vote was the School Education Minister, Peter Garrett. Now he’s also got carriage of the Gonski reforms. He’s joined us in the studio now. Peter Garrett, welcome.
M: Thanks, Lyndal.
W: Last night, the Premier of New South Wales, Barry O’Farrell, told Lateline that he supports the Gonski reforms. Have you heard such a statement of support from him before?
M: We’ve had indications from New South Wales that they were positive about Mr. Gonski’s funding recommendations. But you’re right, last night on Lateline, I think the New South Wales Premier said very clearly that he recognizes this as an important piece of work and he’s supportive of it. I think that’s very important for us.
W: Yeah, and what is the government doing to progress them?
M: We now need to work through those recommendations and see what a proposed funding model would look like. The fact is that the Gonski funding recommendations were a blueprint but they weren’t complete. If you take something like indigenous loading, they recommended a range of somewhere between 40 and 100 percent on indigenous loading. We need to work that through with states and education authorities to determine what a future funding model would look like. I’m doing that work and I expect to introduce legislation this year.
W: Have you actually committed to the principle of the Gonski reforms which is to have a base rate of funding for each student and then loading for elements of disadvantage?
M: Well, the principle of a schooling resource standard plus loadings is an extremely positive reform suggestion by Mr. Gonski and his panel, but what we need to do is work through with states what a funding model based on those principles would look like and then agree on it. I mean,we do want to deliver funding reform on the back of the big investments in education that we’ve had because we know it’s the next step in the wave of reform.
W: But it won’t necessarily look like what was outlined in the Gonski report. Or, is it more likely than not it will look like that?
M: Well, I think the key thing about Gonski is that the model is very insightful. It provides us with the opportunity to add those loadings so that kids in disadvantaged school communities will get the opportunity to do better. But we do need to agree on it with the states and school systems, and that’s the work that we’re doing now.
W: The work that you’re doing now? When will that come to fruition? You want to see legislation this year. There’ll obviously have to be an agreed model before that. When are you looking for agreement on the model?
M: I’d like to see the working groups continue and conclude their work through to late June, perhaps early July. We’ll then sit down with the states and the stakeholders. We’ll seek to reach agreement with them and bring some legislation into the House.
This is the end of Part One of the interview.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on what you have just heard.
1. What did Barry O’Farrell, the Premier of New South Wales, tell Lateline last night?
2. What does Peter Garrett think of the Gonski funding recommendations?
3. What is Peter Garrett doing to progress the Gonski reforms?
4. What is the principle of the Gonski reforms?
5. Which of the following is CORRECT about the timetable of Peter Garrett’s work?