Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I must say that I was quite amazed when I read the motion moved by the honourable member for Hindmarsh. I would like to recommend to him a reading of the Australian Constitution, which makes it fairly clear that education, particularly primary and secondary school level but also generally, is a responsibility of the states of Australia. Notwithstanding that, the Australian government are proud to have invested so much in education at all levels during our 11 years in office, to help to make sure that young people, who are Australia’s future, do have the opportunity to get one foot on the rung of the employment ladder. The Australian government are well aware that education is an absolutely vital means of achieving success, not only that of the individual but also that of the nation as a whole.

I do not know whether the honourable member for Hindmarsh was actually joking when he moved this motion seeking to condemn the government for what he saw as ‘the failure of the government to invest in education and skills for Australia’s future’, because let us look at what this government has done by way of education initiatives. For example, there is the Higher Education Endowment Fund, with its revolutionary purpose of self-generating funds for expansion of facilities at our universities. That is in addition to the moneys being spent on Australian technical colleges and on primary and secondary schooling. It is pretty clear that this government—having repaid $92 billion of Labor debt and not having to pay the $8½ billion that the former government was paying—has been able to invest in desirable social objectives such as improved education funding and other areas which, under the Australian Constitution, have not historically been the responsibility of the Australian government.

In five minutes it is impossible to cover the incredibly substantial program that the coalition government have in relation to education, so I will just have to cherry-pick a few items and mention them. When you look at what we have done since 1996 and what we are continuing to do, looking at the announcements in the most recent budget, one can see that the honourable member for Hindmarsh is probably playing party politics, which is understandable, given his marginal seat and given the election just a few months away. The reality is that there has not been any other government in Australia’s history that has given the investment in education at all levels that this government has.

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