Queensland's hopes of getting billions of dollars in Commonwealth funding for schools appear to have dissolved along with federal parliament as the government goes into caretaker mode.
Both governments failed to strike a deal on education reforms by the deadline of 5.30pm (AEST) on Monday, when the House of Representatives was dissolved ahead of the September 7 election.
Earlier in the day both governments traded blows, each blaming the other for the inability to reach a deal.
Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the federal government's offer wasn't as generous as the agreement reached with Victoria over the weekend.
But his federal counterpart Bill Shorten said the Victorian government had been prepared to stump up extra money, while Queensland wasn't.
"The Victorian government's offer to us means that the Queensland government had to find an extra $1.3 billion ... and they're not willing to do it. It's a hoax," he said.
However by Monday afternoon it appeared the figure had risen by more than one billion, when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd accused the Queensland government of stalling.
He said Queensland would have to stump up $2.5 billion if it wanted to sign up under the same arrangement as Victoria.
"Given there's been months and months and months of negotiations with Mr Newman's Liberal National Party government in Queensland, why is it left to the last day?," he told reporters in Canberra.
Under the reforms, Queensland would receive $2.48 billion in additional funding over 2014-19.
Mr Langbroek said Canberra was asking the state to increase its indexation by three per cent, to Victoria's 1.3 per cent.
"Queensland is willing to sign up today, as long as we get exactly the same deal," Mr Langbroek said.
He accused the federal government of election point-scoring.
Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Denis Napthine hailed his state's education reforms deal as a great outcome and one which put the state in a "win win" position.
However Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the deal came at the expense of the education maintenance allowance, which helped the state's lowest-income families with school expenses.
And NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says he's getting advice on whether his schools deal with the federal government needs improving after the one done with Victoria.
He dismissed suggestions Victoria had wrangled a better deal and said NSW's agreement had a "no-disadvantage" clause.
"No deal can be done with any other state or territory that gives them a bigger benefit than exists in NSW," he said.
