Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017. I rise in this place this evening to stand up and fight for the Herbert principals, schools, teachers, parents and, more importantly, the students. What I find absolutely extraordinary is that I stand in this place this evening, in a week where we have recognised the 1967 referendum, the Mabo High Court decision and 20 years since the Bringing them home report, to talk about a proposal of unbelievably unfair needs-based funding. Our first nations children deserve a fair education that is based on Labor's needs-based funding. Education is their only way out of poverty and disadvantage and into a life of purpose, meaning, contribution and citizenship. That will require for each and every one of them, regardless of where they live in this nation, access to a quality education. I think it would be fair to say that only Labor will deliver that education funding.

The Prime Minister and the Minister for Education have got to be absolutely kidding if they think this legislation fools anyone. This government likes to use little catchphrases to try and piggyback off some of Labor's greatest initiatives—the latest classic being Gonski 2.0. But this is not Labor's needs based funding for schools, and what the government is peddling could never be confused with Labor. This government fails to have Labor's understanding and commitment that all children should be able to reach their full potential no matter where they live, whether it is in the rich suburb of the Prime Minister's electorate in Wentworth or in a strong worker's suburb like Garbutt in Townsville, or on Palm Island. Those opposite will never be Labor, because the Turnbull government has no compassion or empathy for families, workers and pensioners—absolutely no heart to help others out and no guts to simply do the right thing. This is a government that is for top hats and not hard hats. This is a government for multimillionaires, not battlers. This government has cut $22 billion from our schools just so that Malcolm Turnbull can give a $65.4 billion tax cut to big business. Parents, principals and teachers know schools will be worse off because of the Liberal's $22 billion cut to education. This is the equivalent of cutting $2.4 million from every school in Australia over the next decade, or sacking 22,000 teachers.

The review of school funding report found that what matters is the total resources that a school has for each and every child who walks through the school gate. The Turnbull government is trying desperately not to make this debate about funding. Guess what? That is exactly what it is about. It will not be the schools in Wentworth, inner Sydney or Melbourne that will miss out. No. It will be the schools in regional, rural and remote Queensland that will be left out, and, of course, they need it the most—and that is not to mention the Northern Territory. The schools in Herbert that have some of the most dedicated teachers and staff, devoted P&Fs and P&Cs and some of the brightest students in the country will be ignored by the Turnbull government as it rips $22 billion out of education funding.

North Queensland has been subjected time and time again to the continual mistreatment by this government. There is absolutely nothing in the budget for North Queensland—not even a mention. This government cutting $22 billion in funding for schools is like rubbing salt into our wounds. Our community knows that this is where these funding cuts will hit the hardest. It will be schools like Aitkenvale State School that have used their Labor needs based funding to start up a language program. Here is a school where the student population is one-third refugee, one-third Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and one-third mainstream—that is, two-thirds of the school population for whom English is not their first language. The innovative language program set up by the Aitkenvale State School places children who are struggling with English into a dedicated language classroom, where they experience intensive English lessons so that they can be proficient in English in order to return to mainstream lessons. This ensures that they do not fall behind and that they can have access to a good quality education. This program not only takes pressures off students but also reduces the pressures on teachers in the classroom, allowing them the time and space to focus on the curriculum for mainstream children—and no child is left behind as a result. It is very apparent that this government has no idea that its cuts will put this language program in jeopardy.

Mundingburra State School is another fine example of how Labor's funding helped students and families. This school was able to employ an Indigenous liaison officer, who directly supports families to ensure that their children attend school every day. This has significantly increased the attendance rate for struggling families and students. And then there is Heatley state high school. This school has employed a highly qualified literacy and numeracy expert teacher, who has identified those students who are struggling. She has ensured that they have the assistance they need to catch up to their peers in order to reach their potential. I have seen the difference that this teacher has been able to make to students' lives. For example, one particular student, who is in grade 10, had a reading and writing level of year 5. This student used to act out in the classroom and had behavioural issues. When the expert teacher started with this young man, it took him 30 minutes to write just one sentence. In less than 10 months of intensive support and engagement, this young man can now write stories—pages long—and has recently put together a PowerPoint presentation for his class. The behavioural issues have stopped and his studies are improving every day.

Labor's approach to needs based funding has changed these students for the better. Labor's approach to needs based funding has enabled each of these schools to identify their gaps, plan for change and enact the change necessary to make sure that no child was left behind in their community. I say to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Education and Training: you are putting these students' education at risk. You are threatening their futures by placing their education funding in jeopardy. You are taking away the ability for teachers to be flexible and innovative in developing teaching and learning strategies that make a difference and, most importantly, engage students in the learning process.

The Turnbull government claims to be the government of the ideas boom. Well, let me tell you, when it comes to education it is very obvious that they do not have any idea whatsoever. They have no idea that for this country to lead in innovation into the future, we must invest in education for every child, regardless of their social status, family income, culture, race or religion. The big ideas that will lead to the future prosperity of this great nation will not come from this backward government, but, given a fair go and a great education, they will come from our sprouting students. That is why we need to protect genuine needs based funding through Australian legislation and legislate the government's commitment to deliver for all schools and all students.

But the legislation proposed by the Turnbull government will do completely the opposite. This bill removes the commitment to deliver quality teaching and learning, to deliver school autonomy and increased say for principals and school communities, to deliver transparency and accountability, and to deliver for students with extra needs.

Under what the Turnbull government is proposing, some 85 per cent of public schools will not have reached their fair funding level by 2027. That is eight years from now. Under their model, less than 50 per cent of extra funding goes to public schools. Labor's needs based funding model was providing 80 per cent of extra funding for public schools. We know that public schools still cater for seven out of 10 children with a disability, seven out of 10 children from a language background other than English, eight out of 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and around eight out of 10 children from low-income families. Labor's new funding model also had full public funding for all loadings for disadvantage, so the Catholic and independent schools that educate children with extra needs would also get the funding necessary. You would have to be blind, deaf and dumb over the last few weeks not to have heard the cries from Catholic Education against the Turnbull government. They have every right to be concerned over the Turnbull government's education cuts, as their funding model penalises some Catholic schools in some of the most disadvantaged parts of this country. There is a grave concern that they will suffer real funding losses and will have to increase their fees or cut teachers at these schools.

I am a former student of a Catholic primary school and St Patrick's College in Townsville, and a currently registered teacher and a former teacher myself. I also have a sister and brother who are both principals, one in the public system and one in the independent system, and a number of extended family who are teachers. The teaching expertise in our family goes back to my grandmother. I warn this government now that I am asking many questions of principals, P&Cs and P&Fs in the schools in my electorate. I can assure you that you will hear me loudly and clearly if you cut $22 billion from schools that is vital not only for public schools but also for the Catholic schools in Herbert.

What is even more of a joke from this government is that they are saying that the new national agreement will not even go to COAG until mid-2018. Does this government have absolutely no idea of the work that is involved for a principal and a school community to plan in advance? Schools cannot be expected to plan with five minutes notice, but apparently this government seems to think that that is possible. So to every state and territory, to all the teachers, principals, staff, P&Cs and P&Fs, now is the time to stand up and fight back. Do not agree to anything except for Labor's full rollout of needs based funding. The Turnbull government is waiting until mid next year for a COAG agreement. Maybe it would be a better idea to have an election mid next year and kick this disgraceful coalition government out. This government will and must pay for its blatant inability to listen to expert educators and not acting in the best interests of all of our students.

There is a clear difference between Labor and the LNP. Over the next two years alone, Labor would have invested about $3 billion more than the LNP into schools to get each and every school up to their fair level of funding. Labor's funding model and the Australian Education Act 2013 enshrined the following objective into Australian law:

All students in all schools are entitled to an excellent education, allowing each student to reach his or her full potential so that he or she can succeed, achieve his or her aspirations, and contribute fully to his or her community, now and in the future.

That is exactly what the Turnbull government wants to remove from the act. This government is so out of touch, so backward, so self-centred, actually believing that it could not preserve in law that all students are entitled to an excellent education allowing them to reach their full potential.

Further to that legislation objective, they are scrapping fundamental targets that ensure that the Australian schooling system provides a high-quality and highly equitable education for all students by having regard to the following national targets: Australia to be placed in the top five performing countries based on the performance of school students in reading, mathematics and science by 2025; Australia's schooling system to be considered a high-quality and highly equitable school system by international standards by 2025; lift the year 12 (or equivalent) or certificate II attainment rate to 90 per cent by 2015; lift the year 12 (or equivalent) or certificate III attainment rate to 90 per cent by 2020; at least halve the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and other students in year 12 or equivalent attainment rates by 2020, from the 2006 baseline; and halve the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other students in reading, writing and numeracy by 2018, from the 2008 baseline.

These are admirable targets that should not be disbanded. But when you do not want people in this country to know just how out of touch you really are in relation to education, and how useless a government you really are, of course you would scrap targets, because then there is nothing to measure just how bad your funding model really is. The irony of scrapping these targets is that the Minister for Education, Simon Birmingham, wants to get rid of classroom tests; but that would also mean he gets rid of his own tests in terms of the targets to measure how effective his funding model is because he knows that his ranking will be 'F' for fail.

Only Labor will ever invest in schools. Only Labor will ever fight for principals, teachers and students. Only Labor can ever be trusted with education. And only Labor will restore the LNP's $22 billion in cuts and properly fund our schools. Because it is only Labor that truly believes that every child in every classroom deserves every opportunity to succeed in life. (Time expired)

See this speech in context