Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has attempted to shut down reports of a rift between the South Australian state premier and federal Labor over school funding.
Speaking at a rally in Melbourne on Sunday, Mr Shorten said he had been in contact with Premier Jay Weatherill to discuss his concerns about fully funding the Gonski school reforms.
"I've spoken with the South Australian premier, I've explained to him that Labor, unusual for a federal opposition, has fully funded its proposals," he said.
Mr Shorten said that Mr Weatherill was with him in questioning the Turnbull government's approach to school funding, which he described as "counting every cent" that gets spent on Australian children, rather than considering them an investment.
"I know that Jay and millions of parents agree, why does the Liberal Party of Australia see education as a cost not an investment?" he said.
Mr Shorten also took the opportunity to list areas where he would find savings to cover the cost of his policy.
On Friday and in immediate response to Labor's school funding announcement, Mr Weatherill said that federal Labor didn't have a "coherent or sustainable" funding model for the Gonski plan without a hike in the GST.
Earlier on Sunday federal Labor frontbencher Tony Burke hit back at Mr Weatherill, saying his comments were "drowning in ignorance".
The rift between Mr Weatherill and Mr Shorten has drawn focus away from the Australian Education Union throwing their support behind the Gonski proposal.
The education union called on the federal government to implement the full Gonski model after research revealed that one-in-five children do not have the skills to learn when they start school.
The number of children who don't understand enough words to learn how to read goes up to 30 per cent in disadvantaged areas.
AEU president Correna Haythorpe says this shows the importance of targeting funding to schools where the needs are highest and says that in areas where the Gonski funding model is in place there have been signs of improvement.
