Damian Hale (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to make my contribution to this matter of public importance debate. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the hard-working member for Lyne for raising this significant issue for discussion. I note the contribution of all speakers, in particular the Minister for Sport and Minister the Youth and I note her ongoing commitment to education as well as her detailed summary of the changes to the youth allowance.

By way of background, education is a subject that has always been and continues to be very close to my heart. Both my parents are teachers and my sister is a teacher as well. Collectively, they have a combined teaching experience of over 80 years. Much of this teaching experience has been gained in the Territory, where there is a great wealth of knowledge particularly in remote Indigenous education. Education and closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous are two issues that I am absolutely passionate about.

I will just quickly focus on Indigenous education, because Indigenous kids make up the greater proportion of school kids in regional Territory areas. In 2006 the gap in years 3, 5 and 7 reading, writing and numeracy national benchmark testing results of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students was somewhere between 13 and 32 per cent. Our government has acknowledged that more needs to be done to accelerate the pace of change if we are to achieve the challenging targets of halving the gaps in literacy and numeracy achievement, halving the gaps in attaining year 12 or equivalent and halving the gaps in employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians. The government is working with government and non-government education and training providers to achieve these targets. We are establishing national collaborative arrangements that will assist us to work collectively towards these targets. However, the Commonwealth must maintain an ability to provide national leadership and perspectives to close the gaps.

That is why we on this side of the House are proud to support the Building the Education Revolution initiatives. Over 6,000 families in Darwin and Palmerston received a back-to-school bonus of $950 to help with the costs of kids returning to school. Over 2,000 students and people looking for work in Solomon received the training and learning bonus of $950 to support their study costs. Every one of our hard-working 41 primary schools are receiving capital funding provided for essential new buildings and upgrades worth over $30 million. We are continuing our election commitments such as providing funding for an additional 200 teachers in the Northern Territory. Together, we also aim to see every Indigenous four-year-old in remote communities have the opportunity to access an early learning program. Our government is reducing the red tape to improve flexibility for education providers to focus on education outcomes, particularly for Indigenous Australians in regional and remote areas.

Our government acknowledges the difficulties faced by rural and regional families because of the extra costs with moving away from home to study or to train. Key elements of the government’s response to the Bradley review of higher education will ensure that student income support payments are better targeted to those students who need them most, including regional and rural students.

During the election campaign Labor made it clear that Australia needs nothing less than an education revolution. So what is this? What is an education revolution? It is a substantial and sustained increase in the quantity of our investment and the quality of education for all Australian youth. This is required at every level of education, from early childhood education through to the education of mature age students. Education is the platform for our economic future. Our prosperity rests on what we commit to education now. One thing I have learned from Mum and Dad is this: education is not something that you just go through the motions with.

See this speech in context