Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to participate in this debate of public importance because since I first came to this joint, many years ago now, I have advocated the interests of the education community across this country. I came here as a former teacher—someone with an ongoing interest in education. Having worked in remote communities, I have observed and understood what education means to people who live in the bush. What we know is that if you live in the bush, if you live in remote parts of Australia, your educational outcomes are going to be poorer than those who live in the city. Your health outcomes are going to be poorer. Your job opportunities are going to be poorer.

We had the Prime Minister here this afternoon in question time talking about a high wage economy, higher quality jobs and how we have to be at the forefront of innovation. These are his words. Let me remind the Prime Minister: you will not be at the forefront of innovation if you cannot ensure that every child in this country has equal access to a good educational outcome—you cannot. People will not get good jobs, higher quality jobs, unless every child in this country has access to a good and sound education. You will not have people becoming entrepreneurs and setting up small businesses, unless you can guarantee that every child in this country has equal access to a good educational outcome. The fact is that the Gonski reforms provided that opportunity for Australian students across the country, regardless of where they lived, regardless of their postcode—whether they lived in the eastern suburbs of Sydney or in 0870 in the Northern Territory. That is important.

But what is most important to me is what will happen when this funding is withdrawn, after the $30 billion cuts are made post 2017. It will have a dramatic, negative effect upon the outcomes of Aboriginal students in remote parts of the Northern Territory, who suffer the worst educational outcomes in this country. What we know is that education is not only good for getting jobs; education is not only good for getting access to higher education, a good school education; but education also guarantees a better health outcome. We see people living longer. People do not often make this connection, but it is very clear.

We know that in remote parts of Australia there are high numbers of students with FASD and other mental health issues. The funding cuts which are being made by this government will effectively mean that the support services that these kids require, that their families require, to get a better educational outcome will be gone. So let's forget the bluff and bluster. Let's forget the overbearing rhetoric of the Prime Minister. The facts are very different. They are interested in teacher quality. They are interested in school autonomy. These sorts of things are important but not as important as making sure that every kid, every school, has the resources it needs to get the educational outcomes that we would expect for every family in this country. What this government is doing is guaranteeing that needs based funding will not apply after 2017. We know the significant importance of having additional resources in schools. Money does make a difference.

The capital that the former Labor government put into schools—the building infrastructure in schools around this country—had a very significant impact on educational outcomes and educational opportunities for people living in remote and rural Australia. I know this. People who live in the bush know this. Yet we have got this government saying money is not an issue. Money is an issue. Money is a significant issue. We have now got the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory coming out in an article in today's NT News: 'Education: epic fail fears', because of cuts in funding. He is right. Of course, what he is driven to do as a result of the pernicious attitude of this government is to say: 'How do we raise the additional income we require?'

The Northern Territory is a mendicant community. Around 80 per cent of their budget revenue is derived from the Commonwealth. What they are being forced to do now is consider a GST increase. This is the poorest part of Australia, who can least afford a GST increase. They already pay more tax than anyone else because of the GST on goods and services that already applies: they pay higher costs. So now there is a double whammy. You either accept the government's requirement and the government's attitude or you lose the support—and that is what is happening in this case. The government should be condemned.

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