KEY POINTS:
This is true but also outdated - the statistics the Minister of Education refers to are from 2004, the OECD's most recent round-up of such statistics. The OECD average was 3.7 per cent and Australia languished behind New Zealand on 3.6 per cent.
The OECD Education at a Glance report shows this is largely driven by New Zealand's high proportion of school-aged children.
It notes countries where more than 25 per cent of the population are of education age tended to be above the OECD mean. Those with less than 20 per cent were below the average. In New Zealand, over 25 per cent were in some form of education - exceeded only by Israel, Iceland, Chile and Mexico. Of those, about 18 per cent were in primary and secondary schools.
The Ministry of Education website Education Counts estimates that if New Zealand had the same proportion of 5 to 29-year-olds as the OECD mean, its total expenditure on education as a proportion of GDP would be the same as the OECD average.
However, New Zealand spends less per student than the OECD average. In 2004, New Zealand spent $5190 for each primary student - below the OECD average of $5832. At a secondary level, New Zealand spent $6299 per student, again below the average of $7276.
A spokesman for Mr Carter said this figure is not used because it does not take into account the wealth of the country.
New Zealand also increased its spending on education between 1995 and 2004 by more than 50 per cent - more than the OECD average of 42 per cent and most of the increase was at primary and secondary level.
New Zealand also rates well in total education spending - including tertiary institutions. In 2004, it spent 6.5 per cent of its GDP - fourth behind Denmark (8.4 per cent), Norway (7.6 per cent) and Sweden (7.4 per cent). The OECD average was 5.4 per cent.
It also spent a higher proportion of its total public purse on education than most OECD countries. In 2004, 15.1 per cent of all public spending went into schools. With funding for tertiary education included, that goes up to 21 per cent - well above the OECD average of 13.4 per cent.
Mr Carter often repeats that Labour has put an extra $5 billion into education over the past eight years. Although the figures are outdated, the level of spending relative to GDP has remained steady since that point and in the latest Budget, about 17 per cent of government spending is on education - second only to health spending.
EDUCATION FUNDING
Public spending on primary and secondary education institutions as a percentage of GDP, 2004, OECD Education at a Glance.
* Iceland ... 5.3 per cent
* Denmark ... 4.9 per cent
* New Zealand ... 4.7 per cent.
