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

As someone who was raised in the Irish Catholic tradition and educated in Catholic schools—as was Peter Lalor, I assume—I'm pleased to rise on this motion, and I thank the member for Parramatta for bringing it to the chamber. Obviously, as a Victorian I can bring a special flavour to this, and I will use my contribution tonight to celebrate the contribution made by Mary MacKillop in Catholic education, because her mission was to educate the poor, and I'm proud to say that in my electorate many of our Catholic schools follow that mission to the letter. These are faith based schools that are dedicated to social justice, and I think that's really worth celebrating. Catholic schools have been dedicated to ensuring equality and equity for children across the country for 200 years.

I want to pay tribute to the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, who followed Mary MacKillop, now our much-celebrated saint, into that work in schools across the country and who, I'm proud to say, I spent many, many positive hours with as a teenaged girl. I would point out Sister Giovanni Farquer, who was the founding principal of MacKillop college in my electorate and went on to be principal of Mount St. Joseph Girls' College in Altona. I attended both of those and had the pleasure of her leadership at Mount St Joseph's.

I'd also like to play tribute to a particular Josephite sister, Sister Nora. Something that I think only could happen in the Catholic system is that in year 12 I did four subjects, three of which were taught by Sister Nora: classics, literature and English. So I spent a very long year with Sister Nora, and I think it's fair to say that she left a mark on the entire cohort for many, many decades. She was born in Ireland, and I remember quite distinctly a very cheeky friend of mine trying to distract her one day in classics by asking why she had become a nun. Sister Nora's very prompt response was, 'Well, I was from a very large, very poor family in a very poor part of Ireland, and I had a choice: I could get married, stay where I was and have brats like you, or I could pursue an education.' And that she did. At last count, she had three PhDs in ancient languages. I think we learned her lessons well, and I think that, in that cohort in particular, she taught us very well.

I want to celebrate the Catholic schools in my electorate and their principals as well. Let me list them: Corpus Christi Primary School and its principal, Linda Roynic; MacKillop Catholic Regional College, which I attended, and its principal, Rory Kennedy; Our Lady of the Southern Cross Primary School and its principal, Justin Hilton; St Andrew's Primary School, which I attended as a child and where my children followed me, and its principal, Mr Michael Gavaghan; St Clare's Catholic Primary School and its principal, Andrew Leighton; St Francis of Assisi Primary School and its principal, Michelle Gillett; St James the Apostle Primary School and its principal, Mary Abbott; St John the Apostle Primary School and its principal, Simon Dundon; St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, whose opening I attended quite recently with principal Shelley Ryan, who is no relation although we look similar and the children thought we were cousins; St Peter Apostle Primary School and its principal, Karen Wilson; and Thomas Carr College and its principal, Craig Holmes.

But let me be clear. This government was prepared to leave the Catholic sector behind in our recent history, and it was a campaign by Labor and the Catholic education sector that brought this government to make that funding contribution. I'm talking about this federal government and the fact that it was brought to the table. They wanted to leave state schools and Catholic schools behind. They've managed to leave state schools behind, but fortunately they have come to the table to appropriately fund Catholic schools, as they have done for independent schools. I want to make that point really clearly. This year one of my local Catholic schools, MacKillop Regional Catholic College, will celebrate 50 years of operating in my electorate, and I want to wish them well in those celebrations. I will be attending those celebrations as a former student. It is a school that my family have a long connection to. But let me be clear: school funding should be sector blind. It should be needs based. It should live up to the Catholic education ethos of equality for all. It should be about social justice, and this government should join us and make sure that that happens across the country in every school.

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