Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know the room will be surprised, but I absolutely agree with the previous speaker about the unique student identifier and the need for it not only nationally but also inside our sectors in the states. In Victoria, of course, we've changed that slightly, but it is still ridiculous that an auditor can tell a principal in Victoria that they can't say that a child isn't attending school because they might be attending the Catholic sector school around the corner. This means that we've got children who are lost to the system, and the impetus and the funding to follow them up is also needed. I can only imagine that happening more and more across the country, so I do support those notions and we encourage the minister to take on board those thoughts and, perhaps, some research around the fundamental need for this and the value of anything that has a cost to put it into place.

Obviously, we're doing NAPLAN testing and other testing, but without the systems to ensure that we can track student performance and provide the levels of support that families and teachers need we're working in circles. That brings me to this year's budget. I've been here for six years. I've said a thousand times since I walked through the door that the original Gonski research showed clearly—as does the research conducted around PISA and the OECD—that student outcomes have a direct link to inequality. You can't get around it. You can't jump over it. It's a fact. We have decades of data that demonstrate exactly that. So when those opposite start screaming, 'We're spending more, we're spending more,' having capped what will be spent in state schools to 20 per cent of the Commonwealth spend, they are continuing to feed the inequity that will have a negative impact on our student outcomes nationally. It is really that simple. And this government refuses to hear it. They refuse to hear it in the original Gonski research. They used the Gonski label again to bring in what is now an abomination of a great idea. It really is as simple as that.

I have specific questions that link to my electorate, in this specific area. Minister, I want to know why Westbourne Grammar School receives three times more from the Commonwealth than Werribee Secondary College. It's a really simple question. I want to know why a private school with an ICSEA of 1,147 receives three times as much money from the Commonwealth as a local state school—that, I might add, is performing better and does all sorts of things well—is receiving from the Commonwealth. You can say it's a state school as many times as you like, but the fact of the matter is that the Commonwealth budget is being focused to independent and private schools and adding to inequity. I think you missed the opening point. This inequity will lead to the detriment of this country. This is an economic issue. We're talking about making sure that we have a positive, vibrant economy. Education isn't a cost. It is a value.

I have some other questions for the minister. Under his arrangements, state schools in my electorate have failed to meet the SRS standard without the equity loadings. But there are a couple that are already above it. They might be at 21 per cent. Minister, will they lose that one per cent, with your cap at 20 per cent? Will they lose that one per cent they've got, because of the loading, or is the loading outside that 20 per cent cap? And when will the government make the changes needed to ensure quality teacher training? For six years we've been aware that this is an issue. It's time for action. How can the Commonwealth justify outlaying 80 per cent of SRS to private and independent Catholic schools while only doing 20 per cent—when it is clear on any measure that 75 per cent of students are educated in the state sector?

I have a final point that I think is really important, Minister, and I haven't raised it with you before. There are currently 229,000 people here on bridging visas. How do we get those kids into schools? There are lots of them. At the moment, their parents can't afford education and they are locked out of our state system.

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