The Turnbull government's $23.5 billion schools funding package has passed the Senate by 34 votes to 31, after a marathon debate which lasted into the early hours of Friday morning.
It passed just after 2am with the government securing the support of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, the Nick Xenophon Team, and crossbench Senators Jacqui Lambie, Lucy Gichuhi and Derryn Hinch.
On Friday morning Turnbull fronted a press conference and labelled the reforms "an outstanding result" for Australian schools, students and their parents.
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He said the funding model was "fair" and "right" but the next step was to make sure it leads to educational outcomes.
"It is consistent, it is transparent and it's needs-based. It's exactly as David Gonski recommended," the Prime Minister said.
"This is the biggest reform in Commonwealth school funding ever."
The result is a significant victory for the Turnbull government as it heads into a six-week parliamentary break.
In an effort to win the crucial 10 crossbench votes it needed in the Senate, the government agreed to an extra $5 billion on top of the original $18.6 billion, and to have funds rolled out over six years instead of a decade.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said now that "the bucks in place" the question becomes, "how do we get the best bang for our bucks?"
"We expect the states and territories to work with us, agreeing to reforms that lift the quality of our teachers, and access the best products and programs to use in their classroom," Minister Birmingham said.
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Shadow Education Minister and Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek stood up in the House early on Friday morning and warned the government it would rue the day it rewrote school funding rules.
"I will not forget and we will not forget that this legislation is not fair, it is not needs-based [and] it is not sector-blind funding," she said.
Labor has already vowed to fight the package until the next election and to restore every dollar cut by the government.
The passage of the legislation was uncertain right up until the end with Labor, the unions and the Catholic education sector lobbying Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie to sway her vote away from the government.
How to effectively spend the funding is now up to businessman David Gonski, the original model's architect, who will conduct a review of how to distribute the $23.5 billion to Australian schools.
