Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Reid for his supplementary question. I can assure him that right around this great nation I am aware of many schools that have lifted the performance of the children in those schools through our national partnership money, which is why I was so distressed to see in the 2010 election that the Leader of the Opposition announced as one of his cutbacks ending that national partnership money and reducing the quality of children's education.

Even worse is the misrepresentations being engaged in by the opposition about the power of this money and where it is being distributed. I point to the example of Irrawang High School near Raymond Terrace in New South Wales. The shadow education spokesperson said on Newcastle radio that improvements in that school had happened without an injection of new funds. That is completely untrue and designed to mislead people. It is completely untrue because that school has benefited from $3 million of targeted investment through our national partnerships—the money that the Leader of the Opposition in the last election said he would rip away. But, of course, that promise is just a curtain-raiser for what he is promising in September this year, which would be $16.2 billion less for our schools.

Our kids deserve better. They deserve a high-quality education. We on this side of the parliament are determined to ensure that every school offers a great education. (Time expired)

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