Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to ask: are this mob opposite serious? They have spent this entire MPI, which is about the government promising innovation but cutting education, talking about their defence paper. Here is a newsflash for those opposite: if you want to build a sub, you need an engineer. If you want to build a sub, you need a few tradespeople. Nobody in this country is born an engineer. Nobody in this country is born as a tradesperson. You actually need skills. Unless the government wants to import workers through a 457 visa system, you need to train people.

I know this because in my electorate we build the Bushmaster. In my electorate we build the Hawkei. That contract that the minister was so proud to promote today was built by Australian men and women in Bendigo who have skills. They are people who went to La Trobe University, based in Bendigo, but guess what has happened to that university? This government has cut its funding. People who helped build the Bushmaster and the Hawkei went to the Bendigo TAFE to help get their apprenticeship, but what has this government done? It has cut funding to the Bendigo TAFE. In fact, it has cut $1 billion from skills, so it is a bit hard and a bit rich for them to stand up here and rant about how great their white paper is when they have got no capacity to ensure they have people with the skills to do those jobs. If they are that serious about all the innovation going on in the white paper then they had better start turbocharging their investment in education, not cutting it.

That is all we have seen from this government. They have cut vital funding from schools, and schools in the regions will be the hardest hit. Our schools in the regions, our small schools, our schools with low-SES communities and our schools with high proportions of children from non-English-speaking backgrounds or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds would have been the biggest winners, yet this government has cut the critical years—years 5 and 6—from that plan. This government has cut the resources that they need to ensure that their schools have the tools and the resources to ensure those kids have a future. This government today in this parliament is simply ignoring the fact that, to have defence capability, you need people who have the skills and the education. This government has cut those critical steps and pillars that ensure that Australians will get those job opportunities.

We want to make sure that we have a world-class education system where every student, regardless of postcode, gets a good education so they can choose a career in a number of areas. Maybe someone wants to go into defence. Good on them. But maybe somebody wants to become a scientist working for the CSIRO. Maybe they want to get actively involved in climate change. Maybe they want to help our farmers understand climate change so that they can have crop rotation that suits our climate. Under this government their chances of doing that have been diminished because of the savage cuts the government has made to institutions like the CSIRO and critical areas of research.

If you watched this parliament today, you would think there was only one responsibility of federal government: defence. It is important but it is not the only role of federal government. We are not currently in a situation where we only have defence as an opportunity in this country. We have an amazing community with a lot of opportunity out there, and in our communities we need to make sure that our schools have the resources that they need to do a good job.

We have schools in the Bendigo electorate that are making the tough choice between a teacher aide and watering their oval. That is what has happened because of the cuts from this government. We have students right now choosing which university they will go to and working out where they will stay. O-week is this week. They are struggling to find the resources and enough money to enrol and invest in education like they want. There is a question about whether the next generation of university students will actually be able to qualify and have the skills they need in our universities.

This government's plan is failing schools. They will stand up here and rant day in, day out about how great they are at defence but will not have an honest conversation with the Australian people about how their children could get those opportunities. This government needs to reverse its funding cuts to schools and higher education. It needs to get serious about skills and invest in the next generation. (Time expired)

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