Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I will endeavour to do my best. Standing orders must be suspended, because Australians dislike being told that promises about the educational opportunities for their children in the schools of Australia are then broken after an election. What a circus this last few weeks in education history in Australia has been. We know, and every fair-minded observer knows, that for the last three years those opposite, when they were in opposition, did not want to have a bar of reforming education. We know that those opposite were not interested in changing to needs-based funding. We know that there was the mindless opposition of those opposite—I think they said that Gonski was a 'conski'. In fact, they said that—not last year, not the year before—on 1 August and on the morning of 2 August this year. But someone—probably the notorious Mark Textor—must have told them: 'Do you know what?—on education, Labor is more credible than the conservatives. It is Labor who has worked with parents. It is Labor who has worked with educational experts to try and get a better deal.' But those opposite are so blinded in their hatred of Labor, and they were so blinded in their hatred of former Prime Minister Gillard, that they were determined to say, 'There's no way that we would ever have the needs-based reforms which Labor introduced'.

But, demonstrating the cynical administration that they are, and their desperate desire to get into power, no doubt their planners and their pollsters said in early August, 'Education is one issue where Labor is leading over the conservatives.' Those opposite are quiet, and do you know why they are quiet? They are quiet because they know the truth when they hear it. They know that no-one trusts them on education. Christopher Pyne, member for Sturt, well-known education reformer—not!—on Thursday calls it 'conski' and then on the Friday, in what can only be described as a road-to-Damascus miracle says, 'Actually, we support these changes in education.' I remember very clearly what they were saying and when they were saying it, because I was in negotiations with the conservative government in Victoria on these education reforms. This is why we must suspend standing orders—because this government has different policies before an election to those they have when they get elected.

Then they tried desperately to tell their Victorian colleagues, in a flurry of phone calls: 'Please don't do a deal with Labor. You can trust us.' They came up with that beautifully precise, conservative form of language—the 'no-strings-attached deal'. I have never seen a deal such as this, where they put up a truckload of money and no strings attached, so they could persuade the Liberals in Victoria not to sign a Labor deal. But there is a peril with the no-strings-attached approach, which the Prime Minister has endorsed again today. They have been against this for years and, on the basis that they believe a leopard can change its spots, they said just before the election: 'Well, we've changed our spots. I know we are the conservatives. I know we've bagged needs-based education.' In fact, most of the electorate knows that the member for Sturt does not like government schools; his dream is to turn every government school into a private school! And then what happened—and this is why we should suspend standing orders, Madam Speaker—after the election was that we started to see that well-known government tactic of the backslide. They never go down a slide forwards this crew; they always go down backwards. What a circus!

They have tried to take down from their website their speeches of before the election: 'Let's not talk about what we know.' We have had these golden lines from those opposite, including the Prime Minister, 'We want to end the uncertainty.' What a statement of optimism over experience—'uncertainty'! These people opposite were boasting today, 'We've changed our view from yesterday.' Education in this country has become a circus of funding. Those opposite have been in damage control ever since—the moose is loose—the member for Sturt has been conclusively confusing everyone. I love what the Prime Minister said when he was the opposition leader. He said, 'No school is worse off.' What a mischievous, deceptive comment that is in light of today's comments. And they are boasting; the mob opposite have never been shy about shouting their ignorance to the world, and what they are saying today is: 'How clever are we? We are going to give money to the Queensland government, to the Northern Territory government, and to the Western Australian government—no strings attached!'

They say that a fool and his money are soon parted—those opposite are evidence. Did these clever education reformers even stop to ask those notorious cutters and slashers, the conservative Newman government? Did those opposite ever say: 'Here comes the Commonwealth truck, the Armaguard truck driven by Tony Abbott and his truck jockey, the member for Sturt. We have got the cash, Campbell Newman, quick, get it out the back and get it into the schools! Oh, and by the way, Mr Newman, you can borrow the empty cash truck we're taking. You can bring it around to the back door of the school because you can take the money out of your schools.' These educational vandals, these educational dilettantes, these people too lazy to do their policy in opposition—then turn up at the exam and copy our exam answers. They have made no guarantees to stop Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia from cutting their budgets.

I think you have a colleague seeking the call over there, Madam Speaker—if you don't want to recognise her, I won't.

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