Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this matter of public importance debate. I note that the member for Canberra was somewhat critical of the area of education in this very fine budget that this government has handed down. She will get her opportunity to pass judgement on it when we vote on it in this House, so enough of the hot air and rhetoric. If it is as bad as she says it is, she can vote against it, as can the other members opposite. If it is as bad as they say it is, they can vote against it. They can vote down all of the measures. They can vote down the $5 billion fund to support our universities. They can vote against giving a tutorial voucher to young children who are struggling at school. They can vote against new Australian technical colleges. They can vote against the whole range of measures. Rather than hiding behind all the hot air and rhetoric, they can stand up and be counted on this. It is quite hypocritical to say, ‘We don’t agree with all of this,’ and then vote for all of it. We will see where those opposite in this House really stand and we will note what they really think, especially if they really believe what they have been saying.

It is interesting that we are witnessing a new-found interest by the Australian Labor Party in the future wealth and prosperity of this country. Only yesterday we had the member for Lilley, in the matter of public importance debate, raising the notion of Australia’s productivity growth. A party that supported unions and restrictive trade union practices for years and years has suddenly discovered the notion of improved productivity! Now we have the member for Perth venturing into the field of education. You need look no further than Tuesday’s budget to see this government’s commitment to education. But the thing is that education can very much be seen in terms of cause and effect. While education can create improved productivity, a stronger economy and improved society, the reverse is also true: a strong economy can create demand for education and training. It is interesting to note that plenty of people out there realise they have real opportunities in this economy and, as a result, want to upskill; they want to improve their qualifications. They want to participate in the Australia of 2007.

If you go back to the early nineties and Paul Keating’s Australia, you note it was a very different Australia indeed. If you go back to Paul Keating’s Australia and the recession he alleged we had to have, you note there was little hope and little prosperity and that there was despair amongst many in our community. In fact, unemployment in my electorate was sitting at around 20 per cent—over 20 per cent in some places. I can tell you there was not much productivity or prosperity amongst the unemployed. When I used to go down the street in my area and talk to young people, I noted they had no hope. They were in despair as they did not feel they had a future—and that is a very depressing prospect. We had Paul Keating telling the Australian people, ‘This is the recession we had to have; we’ve never had it so good,’ yet we had countless young people and old people thrown on the scrap heap—and those people were not rushing out to get training. There were very few apprenticeships. Perhaps there might have been the odd apprenticeship for someone working for mum or dad. The number of apprenticeships in my electorate has tripled since 1996. In those days, there was no opportunity and there was a lot less demand for training because people had no hope. Education creates opportunity and opportunity can create demand for education and training.

So what do the ALP do in their first detailed policy announcement? They produce an IR policy that turns the clock back 20 years and they go full speed ahead at destroying opportunity and taking Australia backwards. They want to reduce flexibility and somehow improve productivity. They want to reduce flexibility and somehow create opportunity. It just does not work. You cannot take the high ground on education and take the low road on labour market policy. Australia is a trillion dollar economy, and the Australian Labor Party’s shop steward driven economics just will not cut it in a one trillion dollar economy. It is more complicated than that.

This government is committed to education and training, and there is no clearer example of that commitment than the budget that was handed down on Tuesday night. The $5 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund is a brilliant new initiative. It resets the ground rules for education in this country. It is a visionary policy that will provide $912 million over three years from 2008-09 and will also provide for improved capital works at our universities.

The budget also provides an additional $556.9 million over four years to assist universities to simplify funding structures and provides additional funding for key disciplines, particularly in high-demand areas. The budget provides $211.2 million over four years to allow universities to adjust student numbers and course mixes to respond to demand. It is all about flexibility: flexibility in the labour market producing results and flexibility in the education market producing results. There is $208 million for a new Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund. There is $222 million to improve access to tertiary education for students by increasing the number of Commonwealth scholarships, extending the eligibility for rent assistance to Austudy recipients and extending the eligibility for youth allowance and Austudy to those undertaking approved master’s degrees by coursework.

There is no better way to improve the educational outcomes in our schools than to improve the quality of our teachers. This budget provides $77 million to assist in providing greater practicum experience for teachers. As chairman of the education inquiry, I can say that one of the key elements impeding teacher training is the difficulty that universities are having in placing practicum students. This funding will certainly assist in this regard by helping universities to provide better practicum experience and to support their students when they are out getting that vital practical experience.

This budget also provides increased funding for teacher training, with the funding for teacher training courses increasing from $7,950 to $8,217. The budget encourages ongoing professional learning, with $101.7 million over four years to improve the quality of teaching in the major, important disciplines in our schools, such as literacy and numeracy, through the Australian summer schools initiative. This is a vitally important initiative, because for teachers, and for many other professionals, it is very much a case of lifelong learning. The completion of a bachelor’s degree is only the beginning of one’s journey to becoming a teacher. It is very important that teachers upskill, particularly in those areas which are rapidly changing. It is vitally important that our teachers—the teachers who are preparing our children for the future—are totally up to speed and on the leading edge of the latest developments.

There is $457 million for literacy and numeracy vouchers to assist children in years 3, 5 and 7. I heard the member for Canberra berating this idea and dragging it down. What is wrong with assisting children who are struggling after they have been tested in years 3, 5 or 7? Why should we not specifically assist children who are struggling? You can always deploy resources in different ways, but to spread that funding right across the education system could well mean that those same children would again miss out and fall through the cracks. This is very much about identifying those students who are struggling and giving them the sort of targeted help that is going to make their school experience easy. If kids are struggling at school from an early age, they are far more likely to fall through the cracks as they get older. If we can intervene at an early stage, build their literacy and numeracy skills and make going to school a happier, easier and more fulfilling experience for them, they will enjoy a far better journey through the education system and they will grow up to be far more productive adults. It is a real win-win situation, and I was disgusted to hear the member for Canberra denigrating what is an excellent initiative—one that is going to benefit our young people and bear fruit very rapidly.

There are also $50,000 grants for schools that demonstrate a sustained improvement in literacy and numeracy outcomes. This is a very worthwhile initiative and one that we should be supporting. I will be interested to see if the members opposite support it. Enough of the hot air and the rhetoric, we will see how they vote on the day.

This government is very much focused on building our trade skills base. We recently saw the Skills for the Future program and the establishment of Australian technical colleges. This budget builds on that. There are to be more Australian technical colleges, $1,000 of support for apprentices in years 1 and 2, and $500 skills vouchers. The list is virtually endless; it goes on and on. This fine budget reinforces our education commitment and will produce great outcomes. (Time expired)

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