Pyne hasn't broken a promise .... yet A much better interview from Education Minister Christopher Pyne on Lateline after his shambolic press conference. If I understand the mess properly, Pyne should have realised before the election there was $1.2 billion less of funding for the Gonski reforms than he'd assumed, after Labor redirected the money set aside for the hold-out states and territory. Pyne may yet make some of that good in announcements to come. Pyne claims he won't break his promise to the states which signed on to keep the "funding envelope" - the overall spending amounts. But he is not repeating his promise that individual schools won't lose a dollar under the Coalition compared to what they were promised by Labor over the next four years. Whether that represents a broken promise remains to be seen. Pyne's criticism that some states didn't actually sign the deals they agreed to seems too much a clever-dick lawyering, with Pyne now reluctant to say whether this technicality means he will not recognise or honor those agreements - or at least those part which the Liberals said before the election they would honor. I don't think Pyne has thought through his media strategy. That said, this was good â a strong rebuttal of ABC Leftism: STEVE CANNANE: So if you don't believe there is an equity problem, given the Gonski review is all about improving equity in Australian schools, is it fair to say you never believed in Gonski? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I think Gonski should be about improving the quality of our students" outcomes. STEVE CANNANE: But Gonski was mostly about equity. Does that mean you never believed in it if you don't think there's an equity problem? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Steve, you're the first person who has described the Gonski report as being all about equity. The Gonski report was about a new school funding model. It was supposed to be about high-quality outcomes for our students. If it was all about equity then that is news to most people. Thanks to reader Colleen.