A poll commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation in six NSW federal electorates has revealed voters care deeply about education and want Malcolm Turnbull to fund the final two years of Gonski.
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A total of 3948 voters were polled on Tuesday night, April 19, including 657 in Eden-Monaro.
The poll conducted by ReachTel shows voters in each electorate overwhelmingly support the continuation of the Gonski funding program in the May 3 Budget.
And in each of the six electorates a sizable number of Coalition voters said they would desert the government if Gonski funding is not continued.
In Eden-Monaro – an electorate where the polling suggests the Liberals hold sway only 51 per cent to 49 two party preferred – 8.4 per cent of Liberal voters indicated they were less likely to support the government if Gonski was not continued.
Neighbouring electorate Gilmore has 12.4 per cent of LIberal voters “less likely” to vote for the Coalition if Gonski isn’t continued.
A total of 59.8 per cent of respondents in Eden-Monaro support Gonski needs-based funding, with 14.6 per cent opposed and 25.6 per cent undecided.
In a telling statistic, of those surveyed who indicated they would vote Liberal, 25 per cent were opposed to Gonski, with only 36 per cent support (38.8 per cent were undecided).
That’s compared with 83 3 per cent of Labor voters in support of the Gonski funding model and only 2.3 per cent opposed.
“Parents and teachers are very clear about the positive impact they see from Gonski needs-based funding and they want it to continue,” said NSW Teachers Federation President Maurie Mulheron.
“We know that students around the state are getting enormous benefit from the investment of extra funding coming into our schools.
“There is now a very clear difference between Labor, which has said it backs extra Gonski funding and the Coalition, which has failed to honour its previous commitment,” Mr Mulheron said.
“These poll results show the public clearly backs the Gonski model and want their children to get the best education possible.”
The NSW Teachers Federation is currently conducting a print, billboard and radio advertising campaign to encourage voters to tell their local politicians to include extra Gonski funding in the budget.