Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the words of a famous song, 'I believe that children are our future. Teach them well, and let them lead the way.' Well, children are our future, and the Turnbull government is focusing on teaching them well so that they can lead the way in the future, through the measures in this bill—measures that tie funding to improvement in student outcomes through evidence based reforms.

The Turnbull government is equally committed to our children's future through fair, consistent, transparent, real, needs based, record funding, providing long-term certainty for parents and schools, based on the Schooling Resource Standard, a model developed by the original Gonski panel. I repeat: this is record school funding, that will continue to grow—$18.6 billion in additional recurrent funding; a total of $243 billion over 10 years, which is a record in Australia.

And gone will be those 27 special, very secret, Labor deals—deals that saw schools with the same characteristics treated differently, where students with the same need in the same sector were treated differently, depending on which state they lived in and which of the 27 different deals actually applied to them. These were the deals done by the Labor government that completely undermined the integrity of the needs based funding model.

But what really concerns me is that, despite increased funding growth over a long period in Australia, our performance in national and international assessments has declined or remained static. It is not acceptable that large numbers of Australian students did not reach intermediate international benchmarks in science and maths.

That is why the Turnbull government is acting now. We need to equip our students with a strong foundation in literacy, numeracy, science, technology, engineering and maths. These skills are really critical in regional and rural areas like my electorate of Forrest, which is undergoing change and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

I recently read a very thought-provoking article by David Kennedy and Nathan Taylor, who wrote about the effects of automation on regional Australia, on regions like my own. They write of how the growth of online services eliminate many routine tasks done by keepers and accountants; of the construction jobs where robotics will replace manual labour; of how Komatsu uses drones to coordinate automated bulldozers; and of companies getting 3-D printers to use cement to construct housing. The article said the jobs of the future will be in tasks involving cutting-edge, high-level creativity.

Well, in WA for instance, we already see Rio's autonomous vehicles—the 73 416-tonne dump trucks on mine sites in the Pilbara. They are controlled from a central control in Perth. They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year, carting iron ore. And of course this is done by GPS, radar and laser sensors. I recently saw a remotely-controlled bobcat for use on a mine site developed by Hotweld Engineering in Bunbury in my electorate.

We will see more jobs in control rooms and in innovation, and fewer on various mine sites. So we will need people with the skills to fulfil these roles. We will need all the skilled and talented individuals we can retain in rural and regional Australia.

Measures within this bill are a key part of this future, through that focus, as I said, on literacy, numeracy, science, technology, engineering and maths. In this bill, the government is actively choosing fairness, equity and quality, where student outcomes are valued just as much as student funding.

I have got no doubt that parents will really appreciate the improved accountability and transparency, the ministerial reporting requirements, and the publication of Commonwealth funding to schools on an annual basis. Parents will know exactly what Commonwealth funding their child's school is receiving, from Augusta in the south of my electorate to Nannup and Balingup in the east, and from Margaret River, Busselton and Bunbury on the coast to Yarloop and Harvey in the north.

What I am really pleased about is that David Gonski will conduct a review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools. The review will provide advice on how the extra Commonwealth funding should be invested to improve Australian school performances and to grow that very important student achievement. The review will contribute to the evidence based need, to ensure the funding is used in ways that make a genuine difference to student outcomes. The review will focus on practical measures that work, both from within Australia and from around the world, so that we improve the results for Australia's children.

There is further work ahead with the states and territories to develop and deliver a new national schooling agreement to help address declining student performance. I was at an Australian Primary Principals Association friends' event last night, and I have no doubt that they will be keen participants in the discussions ahead, bringing, as Minister Birmingham said, their thoughtful, reasoned and considered approach to the table in all of their discussions.

The guest speaker, Lisa Rogers, spoke about principals as instructional leaders and about the moment-by-moment decisions that teachers make in classrooms. I look forward to their contribution to David Gonski's review. This is the group that demonstrates the importance of strong positive leadership in schools. I have very many fine examples of those who I have worked with in different ways in my electorate of Forrest. They are wonderful principals who are instructional leaders.

But I also hope that David Gonski investigates how much time our teachers in kindy and primary school spend on basic parenting tasks that seem to be taking up more of their time—perhaps simple things like toilet training—and if the children around Australia are actually coming into kindergarten and primary school ready and prepared to learn. It is about how the primary schools are providing students with the skills and knowledge to continue their high-school-level education immediately, and about how the high schools are providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to continue their university-level courses or vocational education and training immediately. And even though this review is focused on primary and secondary education, I hope that David Gonski tests the effectiveness of these combined levels of education by talking to employers, to see whether universities and VET providers are producing employees who have the skills and knowledge needed in their employment, and identify where the gaps may be.

Mr Gonski will report by December this year, ahead of the negotiation of a new school reform agreement with states and territories in the first half of 2018. I can say that I am really looking forward to his recommendations. Our reforms in quality outcomes in schools are in the areas that make a difference: strengthening literacy and STEM skills, such as requiring minimum literacy and numeracy standards for school leavers, and ensuring that English or humanities and maths or science are studied to get an ATAR.

Focusing on the importance of teacher quality: I think that everyone in this place, if they were honest, could talk about the value and influence on their lives—not only on their lives but on their student lives as well and in their ambitions—of the effect of a passionate teacher. A dedicated and passionate teacher actually has an effect not only on their learning but also on their life. One such person in my life was a wonderful teacher at Harvey High School, Fiore Rando. I know that he has educated, encouraged and inspired generations of young people in my part of the world.

And there is our focus on the importance of parental engagement. We do need parents actively engaged in their own children's education. I am on the independent public school board of Cooinda Primary School. There we see directly how important that direct parental engagement is in what that the board is doing and will achieve with the school. I strongly support the government's key reforms there. The importance of very strong leadership cannot be underestimated in our schools; it is a key driver.

Our year 1 reading, phonics and literacy assessments will help to assist in the early identification and intervention needed for some students. We will keep our very best teachers in the classroom. By aligning our legislative framework with our national policy objectives this bill provides a strong foundation for achieving our long-term vision for Australia's students in schools.

The amendments in the bill will commence on 1 January 2018, in line with the school year, to enshrine a faster and fairer 10-year transition period to ensure that by 2027 all government schools and all non-government schools will be funded on the same basis by the Commonwealth as well as attract a consistent share of the Schooling Resource Standard. From 2017 the Commonwealth share of the Schooling Resource Standard will grow for government schools from an average of 17 per cent to 20 per cent in 2027, and for non-government schools from an average of 77 per cent in 2017 to 80 per cent in 2027. The share of funding provided by the Commonwealth will increase across Australia, bringing it to 20 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard for the government sector. It is a significant increase. It reflects the Commonwealth government's historic role as the minority public funder of the government sector and the primary funder of the non-government sector.

The Turnbull government, as we know, has fully funded our education plan. This will ensure students across the country receive funding based on need and that all students will be treated equally. As the Commonwealth will be increasing its share of the standard over the next 10 years, overall funding will grow over and above enrolment growth and indexation. This means that the Commonwealth will be providing $4.4 billion more over 2018-21 than if funding grew just in line with movements in CPI.

It has been reported that the states welcome the Commonwealth funding and may shift their own funding to minimise their own costs. The bill introduces a requirement for states and territories to actually maintain their real per-student funding levels as a condition of Commonwealth funding to prevent cost shifting to the Commonwealth. As we in this place all know, the Commonwealth does not own or operate a single school, so it is important that school funding by the states continues.

We will establish a transition adjustment fund that will provide support to assist vulnerable schools to ensure the move to the new funding formula is smooth. The Turnbull government has been very clear: the delivery of reforms will be a condition of funding for states. The bill stipulates that states and territories will be required to be party to a new national agreement to receive Commonwealth funding to avoid the situation we have had previously—that of participating and non-participating states. A new agreement will set out a shared vision for the development and learning of young Australians and reinforce the importance of progressing evidence-based reforms that actually improve student outcomes.

This bill supports all Australian schools by taking action to strengthen the legislative framework that underpins the Australian government's significant investment in education and by updating the act to ensure effective and efficient administration. As I said at the beginning of this speech, children are our future and we need to teach them well. We also need to ensure we fund schools appropriately, and that is precisely what the Turnbull government is doing with this plan. I commend this bill to the House.

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