Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor Party have shut me down in this debate because they do not like what I have to say about education policy because it doesn't accord with the views of their paymasters in the Australian Education Union. Let me say, we on our side of the House will not be dictated to by the Australian Education Union, which are a handbrake on good education policy in this country. The Australian Education Union has opposed every good piece of education reform in this country. It absolutely amazes me that, despite the fact that there is low union density in construction and mining, we still see union density of about 45 per cent in the education sector.

This bill brings to a close an issue which the government has been dealing with since the time of the Gonski legislation. The Gonski review particularly looked at the issue of SES. The Gonski review had this to say about the SES:

… the area-based SES measure used at present is subject to potentially significant error due to variability in family SES within Census Collection Districts. This should be replaced in time with a more precise measure that would reflect directly the circumstances and background of each student in a non-government school.

That is what this legislation does: it responds to the views of the Gonski review. The member for McMahon is sitting behind me because he agrees with what the government has done here. He agrees with what the government is doing here. He agrees that the direct income measure is very important.

I think about many schools in my electorate which were subjected to the SES measure. They might have had people from a particular suburb or a particular postcode in their school but they weren't necessarily the wealthiest people in that particular suburb. In fact, very often, particularly in the Catholic independent school sector, they were among the poorest people in that postcode. The direct income measure creates fairness across the sector. It says that if you as a parent earn a particular amount of money that is what is going to be counted, rather than an average across a postcode or series of postcodes.

This legislation and the new arrangements mean that almost all the schools in my electorate are better off under the direct income measure—and that's terrific. Providing more support for all schools, as we are doing—going from $21.8 billion this year to $32.5 billion in 2029—means that we are supporting the choice of parents and their right to choose the education that is right for their families. In the Berowra electorate, people don't make a bad choice—whether you choose government, whether you choose Catholic or whether you choose independent. I'm lucky to have 51 outstanding schools serving 27,000 students. The teachers in all our schools are dedicated and professional, and the standard of education our children receive is extremely high.

Parents choose schools for all sorts of reasons. For some it will be logistics and for others there are values based decisions that affect their choice. The non-government schools, who are the particular beneficiaries of this measure, are filled with families that represent the full spectrum in my community. Families who choose non-government are actually often lower-income families. The old assumptions that we used to determine the capacity to pay haven't corresponded with the actual wealth of families attending non-government schools in my electorate. I think particularly of a couple of the non-government schools, Mount St Benedict College and Oakhill College, which made particularly strong recommendations and representations to me and to the education minister about the importance of the direct income measure and what it will mean for their school and for other schools in my electorate.

I want to pay tribute to the non-government schools in my electorate. I have 16 fantastic non-government schools who serve nearly half of the students in my electorate—nearly 10,000 students: Arden Anglican School, Berowra Christian Community School, Lorien Novalis School for Rudolf Steiner Education, Mount St Benedict College, New Hope School, Northholm Grammar School, Oakhill College, Pacific Hills Christian School, Redfield College, Tangara School for Girls, Hills Grammar School, Warrah School, Marian Catholic College, St Agatha's Catholic Primary School, St Bernard's Catholic Primary School and St Madeleine's Primary School.

When you hear some of the reasons that families sacrifice so much to send their children to these schools it is heartening to see the government supporting families in this way. One family in my electorate who have chosen to send their children to a non-government school said:

We gladly forgo oversea holidays and instead choose to go camping with our family so that we can send our children to these amazing schools.

Someone talking about Berowra Christian School said:

… we sought to find a school that would support the worldview and values we hold so dearly.

We deliberately chose this school because it offers an education that we feel is in partnership with the way that we are seeking to bring up our children.

Berowra Christian School is a small, nurturing, inclusive and academically strong school. The teachers are dedicated, loving and caring professionals. They always go above and beyond what's asked of them as teachers. The staff demonstrate incredible care and support, especially for those children with special needs, including our ten-year-old son, who has a significant physical disability.

The decision to send our children to Berowra Christian School was not one we made lightly. It involved greater travel each day and also greater financial cost. But when we reflect on the nurturing education that our children have received at this school, we would make the same decision in a heartbeat.

That view of Berowra Christian School is the same as that of so many parents who send their children to non-government schools. I commend the bill to the House. I think it adequately and accurately reflects the desires of the Gonski review. (Time expired)

See this speech in context