As Australia barrels towards the 2025 Federal Election, education has once again become a fierce battleground—and for school leaders, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
With classrooms still reeling from pandemic-era disruption, staff shortages and a widening equity gap, principals and teachers are demanding serious, long-term solutions. Yet amid the political noise, familiar fault lines are re-emerging.
From ideological turf wars over curriculum content to disputes about funding reform and classroom behaviour, both major parties are sharpening their pitch as the 3 May election looms.
In a statement this week, the Greens slammed Peter Dutton’s plan to withhold public school funding and cut ‘thousands’ of jobs in the Commonwealth Department of Education.
The Greens’ spokesperson on Primary and Secondary Education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said a Dutton Government would result in “cuts to public schools”, a “wound back” Department of Education, and a Minister “fixated on moulding the curriculum after her own image rather than supporting disadvantaged kids.”
“Peter Dutton has said he will hold public school kids to ransom, withholding funds unless he gets to decide the curriculum. He can’t help himself – cutting public school funding is in his DNA,” Senator Allman-Payne said in a statement.
“Kids in Australia deserve a world class, free public education, not threats and bluster from a wannabe Trump.”
‘Seriously dangerous and weird stuff’
Senator Allman-Payne said Dutton, having seen what Trump is doing to public education in America, “would love nothing more than to import that ideology into Australia.”
“This is seriously dangerous and weird stuff,” she said. “The Liberals are fundamentally opposed to public schools – they’d prefer all schools to be fee-charging private schools. They don’t get that education is a right.”
“The last thing you want to see is Peter Dutton standing at the whiteboard telling your kid what they can and can’t learn.”
Senator Allman-Payne said the Coalition now needs to be up front about what its conditions for increased school funding are.
“Are they talking about banning science or First Nations history as a condition of funding? Or forbidding queer teachers from discussing their lives?” she said.
“In seats like Brisbane and Ryan, the only thing standing in the way of a Dutton majority are local Greens MPs. This election, a vote for the Greens is a vote to keep Dutton out and make Labor act.”
Labor’s education budget ‘fails the grade’
Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson said that of the additional $16.5bn promised by the Albanese Government to Australian schools, just $400m will be delivered in the next four years.
“That means a Year 7 student today will see no meaningful benefit before they finish school,” Senator Henderson said in a statement.
The Coalition also accuses the Federal Government of “misleading” Australians when he announced his government had finalised all school funding deals.
“What the agreements between the Commonwealth and our eight state and territory governments have delivered is that every student, regardless of which school they go to, will receive this funding,” Senator Henderson said, pointing to a 24 March press conference in which the Prime Minister admitted negotiations with jurisdiction who are yet to sign Bilateral Agreements are continuing.
“While the Coalition will match these agreements dollar for dollar, we are concerned they contain little in the way of specific reforms which are crucial to raising academic standards.”
Referring to recent data showing that one in three Australian children are failing NAPLAN, Senator Henderson highlighted the need for explicit instruction and other evidence-based teaching methods to be mandated in every classroom.
“So why has Labor ignored this important obligation in its agreements?”
Henderson said the Federal Government has also let down teachers, students and parents, accusing Labor of failing to address classroom behaviour, given that Australia has some of the world’s unruliest classrooms.
“At a time when teacher shortages are escalating and classroom disruption is going from bad to worse, the Budget provides no additional targeted funding to address this challenge.”
Dutton takes aim at ‘indoctrination’ in schools
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has flagged that there will be conditions on school funding to state governments for education if schools teach what he terms “indoctrination”.
“I support young Australians being able to think freely, being able to assess what is before them and not being told and indoctrinated by something that is the agenda of others and that is the approach we would take,” he said.
“You’ve seen some of the teachers who have been part of the protests on university campuses or on the streets of Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane. The indoctrination that’s taken place in some parts of our education system or on university campuses, I don’t think has been conducive to what’s in our country’s best interests.”
Coalition must come clean on plans for public education
While Dutton’s views on the so-called “woke agenda” are clear, Australia’s peak teachers union says he needs to “come clean” on what his plans are for public education.
“There is no clarity on the cuts Peter Dutton plans to make to education, nor will he come clean on what his plans are for public education,” Australian Education Union (AEU) federal president, Correna Haythorpe said in a statement on Monday.
“Peter Dutton has had three years as leader and has never supported public education in that time. Now he is taking a leaf from the Trump playbook by going for the Department of Education by threatening to cut thousands of jobs, control what teachers teach – and pull funding if they don’t comply with his ideology.”
The AEU said that in light of what is happening in the U.S with book banning and “the destruction of teachers’ professional autonomy”, Dutton’s proposed control of the school curriculum “chilling”.
“The AEU has written to Mr Dutton, calling on him to provide bipartisan support for the Albanese Government’s commitment to full funding of public schools. Weeks later we have had no response,” she said.
Last week, the union joined 31 organisations in an open letter to Dutton, urging him to support the public school funding agreements recently announced by the Albanese Government.
“We called on Peter Dutton to give bipartisan support to the Albanese Government’s commitment to lift the federal share of public school funding to 25% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) – the amount needed for every child to succeed no matter their circumstances, Haythorpe said.
The union says there has only been “silence” in response.
“The only conclusions that can be drawn from the Opposition leader’s comments thus far is that public schools funding and the Federal Department of Education are gravely at risk if a Dutton Government is elected,” Haythorpe said.
“It’s clear that public schools can’t risk a Dutton government.”