Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw. The education of our kids is important to us. That is why we prioritise it. That is why we do not lie to people about education funding. That is why, in the 2013 election, your leadership said: 'No cuts to education' and 'We're on a unity ticket'. But was that true?—through you, Mr Deputy Speaker. That was not true. It was not true at all.

In my electorate, when I dropped my daughter to start preschool the other day, there were so many kids there and so many parents who just want to make sure that their children get the best education they possibly can, but that takes prioritising. It takes a government to prioritise it, and the leader of the government is showing his lack of leadership on the issue of the education of our kids. He is failing to help families in this country to lift up the horizons of the children of our families. Not only is he cutting their family benefits; he is cutting funding from their schools, and it is nothing other than an absolute disgrace. I am sorry, it is. If you do not like it, change your policy. If you do not like it, put funding back into schools because there are kids who are struggling at school and they need a hand and that extra funding that you are denying them, because you will not prioritise the education of our kids.

You could be helping them with more individual attention, more time with the teacher, so they do not go the wrong way, so they can get a good education, so they can go on to VET, TAFE and university—those opportunities that you have had that some of these kids will not have, particularly kids from lower socioeconomic areas. That is what needs based funding is about. It is simple: you help the kids in the schools who need a hand. You are letting down the children of Australia. I am sorry, there is no other way to say it. You are not prioritising the education of our kids. They are our future. Please, think about it. Think about the education of the children of Australia. It is really important. Our future depends on it. A high-technology future depends on it. It should not just be the GS schools or whatever that get those opportunities; every Australian child should have them.

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