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

I begin by thanking the member for Curtin for moving this motion in the House today—well, at least the first part of the motion. I completely and utterly support the opportunity to wish year 12 students across the country, across the great state of Victoria and those year 12 students in my electorate, those in the VCAL program who have already finished their final year of school and are out in the world as we speak, planning and seeking their future, and those undergoing the VCE exams over the next few weeks luck. We all know in this place the importance of education. We know on this side of the House the transformative power of education. I'm fortunate to have taught for 27 years in state schools in Victoria, and have had Labor governments that understood the importance of kids finishing school, of people going the whole road for 13 years of education in Victoria and the fact that that final year of school can make the difference in someone's future.

In completing that final year of school, we have changed the state of Victoria. It has meant that we have now surpassed the 80 per cent target set many, many years ago and are close to reaching 90 per cent retention rates in Victoria. I want to say to all of the students going into exam period: I wish you well, I wish you luck. I would say to you the key to examination performance is to stay calm and to remember that, ultimately, we're not testing you; we're testing the system. I want say to the teachers who have taught year 12s this year: thank you for raising your hands to be the people who do that ultimate year in education. Having taught VCE English myself for many, many years, it is a big year. There is an enormous amount of work. I want to thank you for the corrections, I want to thank you for the feedback and I want to thank you for creating an environment where the school-assessed tasks are done in a relaxed way. I want to thank you for every time you took the time out to get a student back on track, to give that little bit of conversation that might motivate a student. I want to thank you, in particular, for the referrals you made to the welfare teams in your schools, when you thought something was awry with a student, this year and every other year.

As well, students completing year 12 is a culmination of all of their teachers' work across the 13 years of formal school education—and, might I say, the work of preschool and early-education educators as well. It is a test of our system, and I want to thank everyone who works in that system, from the school support people to the teachers to the administrators in schools, and particularly the principal class in schools, as well as what we in Victoria call our senior teams—people who spend their lives managing a group of students in the senior years of school to ensure that they are supported to make the most of the opportunities that are before them.

I also want to speak to the second part of this motion, where it goes to the great work of this government, and I just want to say to those opposite, particularly those who have joined us in recent times: when we came here after the 2013 election, there was a $30 billion cut carried in the 2014 budget. So, whenever you say 'record spending', you need to remember that cut. You need to remember wholeheartedly that most of the VCE students in this country, most of the year 12 students in this country, attend state schools, and you need to be very clear on the fact that the government, for six years, have undermined the best opportunity we, as a Commonwealth, have had to ensure quality education for all students in all schools. Those opposite have actively undermined that.

I was reminded this morning, when I walked past a television set to see Christopher Pyne, the former member for Sturt, on the television, who was responsible for that cut. I know who the minister was at the time who undermined the incredible work done by the previous parliament in the Gonski review. I remind members opposite that the Gonski review, in its original form, determined that state schools required the most funding from the Commonwealth, and those in this government have done nothing but undercut that. In fact, they've capped the contribution from the Commonwealth to the Schooling Resource Standard at 20 per cent. This is an absolute outrage. It undermines years and years of work in this place, to see us wound back to the happy Howard years where state schools became marginalised as private schools flourished in our suburbs. That's the legacy that this government should consider itself responsible for—the undermining of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver great, quality education for every student in Australia. (Time expired)

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