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

I second the motion. I'm very happy to speak to this excellent motion from the member for Parramatta and acknowledge the presence of several officials from the Diocese of Parramatta, particularly Geoff Officer and Greg Whitby, who are both friends of long standing.

Catholic education is fundamental to the moral ecology of our nation. It wasn't enlightened legislators that first decided it was important to teach Australia's children to read and write, to learn about science and history, regardless of their heritage and background. It was priests, religious orders and lay people in churches. They're the ones who first sparked the idea of education for all children in the colonies and who carried out the pioneering work to begin what has become our education system. For decades before public education existed anywhere in this country, we had church schools, charity schools, which taught children from all walks of life. That legacy has not only been formational in Australia's history but continues to serve the Australian community today, with the incredible service Catholic schools provide to families and communities. Today, one in five Australian children is educated at one of the 1,755 Catholic schools around our country. Catholic schools are spread from near where they began, near my community, to some of the most remote parts of the country, such as Gibb River in the Kimberley and Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.

Catholic education began in 1820, when the newly arrived Irish priest Father John Therry started a school with just 31 students in Parramatta. Father John Therry was born in Cork and arrived as one of the first Catholic priests to be permitted to serve in the colony. These were sectarian times. He established St Mary's Cathedral and was one of the founding Catholics and agitators for civil liberties in this country. He built the first school, as the member for Parramatta said, at Parramatta. That was one of many that would follow as he sought to build the future church that could educate children in the faith of their parents who were arriving in the colony, many as convicts from Ireland. The legacy of this work continues to be steward by remarkable men and women, lay and ordained—teachers, administrators, priests, nuns and family members—who continue to invest and serve for the future.

My electorate is home to a number of fantastic Catholic schools. In the Parramatta diocese, Marian Catholic College was established in 1988 with just 53 students but today has 1,028 students. St Madeleine's Primary School, which began one year earlier, with 78 students, now has 337 students. In the Broken Bay diocese are St Bernard's Catholic primary school and St Agatha's. St Bernard's has operated since 1972, when it was established by the Sisters of Mercy. It teaches 180 children. St Agatha's serves 282 students and is the oldest Catholic school in my electorate, established in 1954 by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. But it had previously been a parish school at Yarrara Road, Thornleigh, from 1928. Beyond this there are four Catholic independent schools in my electorate that reflect something of the spirit of the early Catholic schools established by motivated lay people in religious orders: Oakhill College, which is the largest Catholic school in New South Wales, Redfield College, Tangara School for Girls and Mount St Benedict College.

I want to acknowledge the principals of each of these Catholic schools: Jane Campbell, Gill Austin, Michael Hopkinson, Jeanette Black, Rita Sakr, Brother Steve Hogan and Matthew Aldous. I also want to acknowledge the outstanding diocese and directors of education serving in my electorate: Greg Whitby, who's here, and Danny Casey. I want to acknowledge some of the parent leaders in the school communities: Melissa Kremmer, Des McGurk, Melanie Lord, Peter Gaughan and Gary Doherty. I also want to acknowledge the teachers and administrators—too many to mention. These are people who continue to build the future in the way the Catholic education system has done for 200 years.

I can't imagine Australia without the contribution that Catholic schools make. I've personally been enriched by Catholic education in Australia. Before coming to this place, I had the great honour and pleasure of serving as a senior executive at the Australian Catholic University, the university that's the largest producer of teachers in this country. It's been a training ground for educators to fill many Catholic and other schools across Australia. I also served on a committee of the New South Wales Catholic Education Commission.

I want to express my gratitude to the Catholic Church and to the teachers, the families and the students at our Catholic schools for the important role they play in our education landscape. We often speak about the economic contribution made, the burden that doesn't have to fall on the state because of the initiative of faith based schools, particularly Catholic schools, in looking after the education of so many children. We're fortunate in this country in a way that few countries are to benefit from that service and to give families real choice for their children. I also want to say the contribution is so much more than just economic. The vision and values that sparked the education of children—convict children, Indigenous children, orphans and the children of settlers—continue to infuse Catholic schools today and influence and shape our communities in important ways.

The Parramatta diocese has said, 'Above all we celebrate all that unites us and we commit to a hope that defines us in living out God's love for one another.' To be defined by hope and living out love is a mission that will carry them well for the next century. (Time expired)

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