Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We know where it is, and it is our tree, even though it is in your electorate. It is in Barcaldine, and it is our tree of knowledge, not yours. I was so surprised to hear the shadow minister for education, the member for Sturt, state on Lateline in July that the socioeconomic status of a student does not impact on their educational outcomes. That is pure bunkum! The reality is that it has a great impact. I have great schools—great state schools and great private schools—in my electorate. Two of the top 10 improving state schools in Queensland—Corinda State High School and MacGregor State High School—are in my electorate. They are big schools. I taught in North Queensland with the principal of one of them. I also have national partnership schools in my electorate. I have small, poor Catholic schools and I have small, poor state schools that are benefiting from the national partnerships program—even the school my son goes to is benefiting, because of its significant African population. So I know the things that impact on improvement.

The reality is that, when it comes to improving the future of Australia, we must invest in education. I know things are good, or reasonably good—it is a patchy economy—but we need to do more. At the moment, the economy is growing at above its long-term average, at its fastest pace in over four years. Compared to the rest of the world, it is miles ahead: low unemployment, 13-year-low inflation, strong consumption growth with high national savings—people have put their credit cards away. That is not good if you are in retail, but the reality is that we are saving more. Out of the 200 economies around the world, ours is one of only seven that have a sovereign AAA credit rating from the three major credit ratings agencies.

How they can get a jeremiad going from next door with these figures I do not know. It is the fastest annual growth in labour productivity in a decade. As we all know, the measure of an economy is its productivity. Sadly, for the last 10 or so years productivity has been flatlining. We need to do more. I will touch on that. But I would also point out that since election night when we came to office in 2007 there has been $919 billion of private investment. In fact, in the last quarter we had it at the highest level of GDP percentage in the last 40 years, at 16 per cent. Productivity is what it is all about. That is why you invest in education. It is not just education for education's sake; it is the future of the nation.

I know that those opposite do not like these figures, and they would like to close down my contribution—

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