Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Parramatta for that question because, as I have done in the House in the last couple of days, I am able to point out to those opposite and those listening that in the electorate of Parramatta that some 58 schools have received over $100 million in investment for new education infrastructure. She has over 9,000 families benefiting from the Schoolkids Bonus. A number of schools—like the Holy Trinity Primary School, the Rydalmere Public School, the Arthur Phillip High School—are participating in our national partnerships, which are directed at making sure that we can help students in those schools improve their education. That is what our approach is as a government and that is why we want to continue that process of education reform through the issue of education funding.

The fact of the matter is that we are focused on making schools better, and parents in the electorate of Parramatta can already see that this government has been fair dinkum about education. They then have to think for a moment or two about what the opposition leader has said—his remarks about the injustice of funding government schools They may also think for a moment about the comments of the shadow spokesperson on education—'Let's cut one in seven teachers.' And then they may think about the opposition's response to the Gonski panel's findings—they dismissed them out of hand within 20 minutes and said they would repeal the legislation even before they have had a chance to read it. (Time expired)

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