Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to be able to speak on the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017, because it certainly is most pleasing to have an education policy in this country that is actually funded. It is an important part of the equation. It is one thing to have a policy, but the Labor Party had a policy that was nothing more than a mirage—the education mirage—that was unfunded, and they had no intention of ever paying for it or ever delivering it. That is not a policy; it is nothing more than a mirage. It was a huge confidence trick on the Australian people. They put out a policy that has a schedule of payments and when the real heavy lifting has to be done, it is not the budget. It is a policy that was never budgeted and there was never any intention to implement it.

The Australian people are smarter than that; they certainly are smarter than that. They have woken up to the fact that the Australian Labor Party did not budget for their so-called education policy in any budget document. It was out there in the ether. You can imagine Prime Minister Gillard going down to the supermarket with an arm full of groceries. She comes up to the check-out and she bolts out saying, 'The person behind me in the queue is going to pay for it.' That is the coalition. We are the ones who followed them on and it is our responsibility to deliver an education policy that is transparent, that is needs based and, very importantly, that is actually funded. There is $18.6 billion in additional investment in education over the next 10 years.

I am delighted to advise the House that—despite hearing member after member saying that this particular school's funding is going to be cut and that particular school's funding is going to be cut—I can say categorically to the people who I represent that every school in the electorate of Cowper will receive increased funding over the next 10 years. That is a very important point. Unlike Labor's unfunded mirage, every school in the electorate of Cowper will receive increased funding—and it is real money. It is budgeted for. It is affordable. That is as opposed to Labor Party, who are doing nothing more than attempting to mislead. I heard the member for Adelaide, the so-called shadow education minister, at press conference after press conference decrying the coalition's position on education. When she was asked, 'Well, are you going to deliver on the funding?' She said, 'Well, it's not for us to do. We're in opposition.' They are in opposition. We want to keep them there.

As I said, every school in the electorate of Cowper is going to receive an increase in funding. Whether you live in Coffs Harbour, whether live in Port Macquarie or whether you live in Bellingen, Dorrigo, South West Rocks or Urunga, if you live in the election of Cowper and your children go to school, there will be increased resources to assist them in their education. That is funding that is delivered under a transparent formula, funding that is delivered to those schools that are most in need and funding that is absolutely appropriate to the 21st century.

I would just like to quote a few examples to the people of my electorate as to the sorts of funding increases that are going to be provided. Let us take in the Kempsey Shire: Kempsey Adventist School is getting an additional $18.1 million and South West Rocks Public School is getting $2.5 million. Macleay Vocational College, a school that does great work providing an education for kids who are facing very severe learning challenges, will get an additional $19.6 million over 10 years. In the Port Macquarie area, St Columba Anglican School will get an additional $23.5 million. Westport Public School will get an additional $2.9 million and Hastings Public School will get an additional $5.1 million.

In Bellingen Shire, Bellingen Public School will get an extra $3.2 million. That does not sound like a cut to me. St Mary's Primary will get an additional $3 million. Dorrigo High will get $2 million in extra funding. That does not sound like a cut to me. In Nambucca, Macksville High will get an extra $6.3 million. Nambucca Heads Public School will get an extra $2.4 million and St Patrick's Primary School will get an extra $6.9 million. I certainly welcomed the opportunity to call into St Patrick's on my charity ride. The children welcomed me as I rode in, and the band was playing. It was a great day when I visited St Patrick's in December last year.

In the Coffs Harbour area, Orara High School will get an additional $6.5 million. John Paul College will get an additional $26.5 million and Coffs Harbour High will get an additional $9.3 million. This is real money. This is funded. These are real increases. They take into account increases in enrolment. They take into account increases in need. These are very important funding figures, and they debunk the myth spread by members opposite that school funding is going to be cut.

But we on this side of the House know it is just not about the money. Funding is very important indeed; that is why we are providing extra funding. We are not providing a mirage; this money is real; this money is budgeted. It is how you spend the money that is important. In recent years, despite increased funding, we have seen educational outcomes declining. That is why the government is absolutely focused on putting in place policies that are going to improve educational outcomes over and above merely increasing funding. I draw to the attention of the House the government's policy 'Quality Schools, Quality Outcomes'. We are looking at a range of areas to improve learning performance such as strengthening teaching and school leadership, developing essential knowledge and skills, improving student participation and parental engagement—it is very important to have the school community engaged in the activities of the school—and building better evidence and transparency. Our key reforms include year 1 phonics and literacy assessment to assist in early identification and intervention. There will be initiatives to keep our best teachers in the classroom—and nothing affects the outcomes in the classroom more than the quality of the teachers we retain and the quality of the teachers we attract. There will be reforms to strengthen literacy and STEM skills such as requiring minimum literacy and numeracy standards for school leavers and ensuring that English or humanities, and maths and a science subject, are studied to get an ATAR. These are important reforms. They are not financial reforms but they go to the heart of improving the educational outcomes that young people will receive. We are very focused on the importance of STEM. If we are to be an innovative nation going forward, we have to have young people with the skills that are required in the 21st century.

Looking at teaching and school leadership, we want to see improved career and professional capabilities for teachers aligned with professional standards for teachers, national teacher registration and professional learning. There will be certification for new principals. There are targets for STEM qualified teachers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers. Australian professional standards for teachers will underpin teacher workforce policies. We will establish incentives to attract and retain experienced leaders and high-performing teachers in disadvantaged schools and schools with a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. We want to increase the supply of language teachers—so important in a world that is becoming more international every day. We want to include literacy and numeracy as an area of specialisation for primary school teacher training. We want to ensure that teachers use a range of strategies, including explicit literacy and numeracy instruction.

We have a very broad policy canvas, as it were. We are looking at the issue of funding and we are providing the funding that is required. This is very much what Mr Gonski was seeking. We have actually delivered Gonski; Labor delivered nothing more than a mirage. They delivered nothing more than a mirage. There were lots of green posters and lots of Teachers Federation people protesting outside their offices. Rather than investing in professional development, they were out there protesting with their green banners. We are delivering the funding. We are delivering a strategy that is going to improve student outcomes and deliver better outcomes for our young people.

I do recall the contribution by the member for Bendigo. Mr Deputy Speaker, you can always depend on the good old member for Bendigo to say something a little bit unusual. There she was, carping on about schools in her electorate losing money. Where are they? She was talking about Bendigo Senior Secondary College, Holy Rosary School and Weeroona College losing money. So she claimed. The fact is this: all of those schools are going to get an increase in funding in 2018. They are all going to see increased funding. The member for Bendigo was having a lend of her constituents falsely claiming that the schools were going to be cutting funding when, in fact, under our proposals every school—every school in my electorate, certainly—is receiving an increase of funding. Similarly, the schools in the electorate of Bendigo are going to receive an increase in funding.

This is a very important debate indeed. I was so delighted to watch the press conference where the Minister for Education was discussing these reforms. The Prime Minister was there and David Gonski was there. It was great to see him there. I can imagine the members opposite would be wondering, 'How are we going to fabricate something now to mislead the Australian people?' when Mr Gonski himself was there with the Minister for Education and the Prime Minister, advocating the advantages and benefits of the proposals we have outlined. There is $18.6 billion, a massive increase in funding. The funding will be combined with a range of other measures with a strong focus on teacher quality and a strong focus on retaining teachers in the system. These are very worthwhile reforms indeed. I am delighted to be able to stand here in this debate to say to my constituents: you can be assured that if your child is attending a school in the electorate of Cowper there will be increased resources available for that child to ensure that child gets the education he or she needs to ensure that they are competitive in the job market into the future.

I will bring my contribution to a close now. I think I have made the point very strongly that we have a funded policy. It is compared to a mirage from those opposite, the greatest confidence trick in Australian political history. It is like the NDIS; they had the same funding model, they pushed all the expenditure out into the future, they pushed the expenditure off the budget and they left it to the next person in the queue to deliver.

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