Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very glad to have the opportunity today to make some inquiries of the minister in relation to matters concerning education in the budget. There is a considerable amount of interest in my electorate in education and recognition of the investments made by this government which have delivered great educational outcomes through great capital investments and display the ongoing commitment of this government to education at a very local and very practical level in the electorate of La Trobe. I take this opportunity to convey to the minister something that was passed on to me with great emphasis last week at Belgrave Heights Christian College. It is pertinent in light of the comments made by the member for Sturt earlier today in relation to computers in schools. I was asked very clearly to convey the thanks of that particular school for the significant investment in computers that have assisted it in delivering education to its students. I have had the opportunity to see at that school some robotics education and other things being provided there that would not have been possible without the computers that we, the government, have committed to that one school in a very large electorate.

I should also say that they were very appreciative of the other considerable capital investments that have been made by this government in the school, not only through the BER program, which has delivered to them a really marvellous stadium, for which they are very appreciative, but also the construction of additional learning centres and a VCE study centre, through a capital grant. Also, there was a commitment to a discovery centre, which I was at the opening of last week. They are also to be the beneficiary of a trades training centre. So that one school alone demonstrates the wealth of commitments in education that we have made, and they are certainly very grateful for it.

Likewise, I was very pleased to be at one of the most recent openings of a BER building, this one in Narre Warren North Primary School. It is one of the oldest schools in my electorate. The school has not had a significant amount of capital expenditure on it in the past and certainly would not have been the beneficiary of capital expenditure had our colleagues opposite been in office. They were most appreciative of the school building, which has enabled them to come together as a school and continue on after more than a century in the local area.

Less positively, Minister—and I am sure it brings some pressure to bear in the context of the appropriations we are considering today—you will no doubt be aware of the Baillieu government's actions in education, which have seen a significant amount of money torn away from the education budget in Victoria, and it is from some of our most disadvantaged schools, it has to be said. For instance, some schools in Victoria will lose up to around $80,000 as a result of the Baillieu government's decision to cut the education maintenance allowance, combined with the scrapping of the $300 School Start Bonus, which has contributed to a $19 million saving for Ted Baillieu and the Victorian government. It is most unfortunate that while we are contributing significant amounts to education, and have done since we came to office, as has been the tradition of Labor, in Victoria we simply see Ted Baillieu not only skimping on education but in fact cutting away at the things that have been delivered. It is a neat contrast that we have been providing a Schoolkids Bonus at the same time as the Baillieu government is pulling away money from schools and from families.

In addition to this, some of my schools have particularly raised with me the issue of the Baillieu government effectively taking away $7 million in federal funding promised to state schools under the National Literacy and Numeracy Partnerships. That has been specifically raised by Kambrya College with me. They are also very appreciative of the significant investments that this federal government has made in education. They contrast it with the actions of the state government.

A number of schools in my electorate have an interest in and a connection with remote communities and Indigenous communities, and have a particular interest in closing the gap in education, and across the board. Upwey High School, St Josephs in Ferntree Gully and Mater Christi have all expressed an interest in those issues, and I am sure there are more schools in the area that take an interest in those issues. I would be grateful, Minister, for some further information about what the budget delivers and what we have delivered overall since coming to office in relation to closing the gap in Indigenous education.

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