Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the contributions which have been made thus far in this debate. I'll come to the member for Bowman in a moment, but I do want to particularly acknowledge the member for Barton, the member for Lyons and the member for Kingsford Smith. It's not my intention to go over the ground they have covered, at least not in any detail, but I will repeat some of the obvious points about the heritage that Labor brings to the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Student Assistance and Other Measures) Bill 2021 in terms of support for Abstudy in particular, but also financial assistance for students to undertake study and training which, as has been said, commenced under Labor during World War II.

I'm sorry the member for Bowman has left the chamber, as I want to make some observations about his contribution. I will do that shortly. I want to briefly and, in part, repeat two elements of what others have said before I refer to the member for Bowman. In 2020, Abstudy provided financial assistance to around 27,000 students at school, university and TAFE. As has been said, it helps to reduce financial barriers for First Nations people to tertiary education and training. Access to education, as we know, is a key target in closing the gap. I took note of the member for Bowman's observations about both targets.

The Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme assisted around 13,000 students in 2019-20. I want to make some comments about the Isolated Children's Parents' Association and the wonderful work they do in advocating for students who live in rural and remote communities across this country. They do this pushing stick uphill. It's a very difficult row to hoe and they do it so professionally and well, and they have had significant outcomes over the years. This legislation will assist them, but it won't make a marked difference to the educational opportunities or outcomes for kids from the bush—those who utilise the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme.

It is important that we appreciate the commitment of their parents and carers, and school communities that they attend, for what they provide young people in terms of educational opportunities. Some of them do extremely well. I was talking to a pastoralist in the Northern Territory the other day, in sad circumstances. His father had died and the burial was to be held in the local community. He observed that his daughter, who is in her fourth year of medical training, was able to come and be of great assistance to her dying grandfather at the time when he needed close attention and help. That is a commendation not only of that student but of her parents and the wider community and her family.

I now go to the member for Bowman's comments. I don't agree with all of his comments or his observations, but I do accept the commitment that he has demonstrated in terms of getting outcomes for First Nations kids wherever they might be, in particular in remote communities. I want to say to him that it is important that we see the connection between other elements of social policy as well as education. He knows this because of his observations and his experience. We can compel kids to go to school as much as we want, but if they don't have the right familial circumstance, if they live in overcrowded housing, the social determinants of health, including education, come into play. I have observed this now over many, many years—too many years to recount, really.

Whilst we are prepared to tolerate significant overcrowding in bush communities, where there might be 20 or 30 people to a house, we are going to be forever frustrated in getting decent education outcomes. I do note, though, your observation about giving First Nations people the opportunity to control their educational outcomes. I understand it, and I want to commend the Northern Territory government in this regard. It is now entering negotiations and discussions with First Nations communities around local decision-making, including controlling the school system in their local community. That is a very positive thing. I make the observation that I think there was a mistake in policy introduced some years ago in the Northern Territory where they effectively sidelined bilingual education. In my view that was a grave error. It seems to me that we've got to understand that, if we want to get the educational outcomes to which the member for Bowman referred, we have to engage with the whole community, that's true, but we have also to understand the circumstances in which those communities are situated in terms of their economic and social profiles and to understand the need to put in the resources that are required to get the outcomes that we all want. Those are not just in education but in housing, primary health care, communications and other infrastructure. If we don't do that, we will not get the outcomes that we all want.

I'll say a couple of words on the budget. There is nothing in this budget of any consequence, really. There are two elements. I'm not going to be so churlish as to say they're not decent, but there's nothing substantial in this budget to address the poor educational outcomes of First Nations kids in the bush. There is nothing, zero, zilch. There is nothing in this budget to advance those issues around the social determinants of health, to which I referred—nothing, zero, zilch. There is some money for further primary health care, and I acknowledge the commitment made for the 2,700 additional places for Indigenous girls academies across the country. That just balances the ledger, because of the commitments made for young men's programs. I also acknowledge the commitment to provide $16.6 million for schools and youth support for boarding school viability in 2021-22 post-COVID.

I'll make an observation. The House of Representatives standing committee on First Nations did an inquiry into education. It looked at boarding facilities and boarding schools across the country and discussed their merit. The conclusion arrived at was that they had questionable outcomes. There were certainly young First Nations students who profited by going to a boarding school, but what we noticed also was that a large proportion of kids who went to those boarding schools dropped out before they'd finished or completed their education. We came to the view that the best way to get better educational outcomes for those kids was to invest in educational opportunities locally, in their own schools and in their own communities. This is where the money should be spent in the first instance. I have no issue with kids going to boarding school if that's what they want. I have no issue with needing to make sure those boarding schools provide good facilities—none at all—but that should not be the priority. The priority should be to look at the fundamental needs of preschool, primary school, high school and post-school education in remote and regional Australia. That's where we should be spending on resources. It seems to me that the government has missed an opportunity in this budget.

I note that there has been significant comment already in this debate about the impact of the government's budget on higher education and the failure of this government to see that the needs of Australian students are properly addressed. More than 17,000 jobs at universities have been lost because of the Prime Minister's pig-headed decision to stop universities getting JobKeeper. How stupid can you be? Yet that's what we've got. That's sad, and it's a handicap on kids who live in rural and remote parts of Australia, just as it's a handicap on kids who live in major urban centres. The availability of courses and the restructuring of fees that we have seen have already been commented on here. They make huge university fees and university debts that will rob Australian kids of the job of their dreams. That's what will happen as a result of the decisions taken by this government.

I will go back to where I commenced. There is an opportunity for us here, and I pick up again on the plea of the member for Bowman. Yes, we do have to do things differently, but we have to acknowledge the right of First Nations people to make their own decisions. That's absolutely true. But it requires an investment, and that investment is not coming from this government. The budget last night puts nothing towards local decision-making or investing in the education outcomes of these First Nations kids who live in rural, regional and remote Australia. We're going to have to do a great deal more if we are serious about closing the gap, for which we say we have bipartisan support.

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