About 70 Australian Education Union members held a protest at the entrance to the Hobart Traffic Management Centre, where he  was announcing $26 million in funding to upgrade the Brooker Highway. 

The union is angry that the Coalition government has failed to commit to the full rollout of the Gonski school funding deal struck with the former government, and it called on Premier Will Hodgman to honour his pledge to lobby Canberra for the rest of the money. 

The Prime Minister wasn't backing down yesterday. 

``I respect the sincerity of the people out the front,'' Mr Abbott said. 

``They obviously want the best for their kids and their community's schools.'' 

Mr Hodgman said the state government had committed to providing the full six years of its share of the funding. 

He said he was pushing for Tasmania's fair share of education funding, but   it was out of his hands. 

``I'll let the federal government make decisions that concern their budget circumstances.'' 

Labor  education spokesman Michelle O'Byrne criticised Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff for failing to show up at yesterday's AEU conference.