Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

It has been said before, but it is well and truly worth saying again: education can be a great leveller. It has the potential to lift individuals and communities and give them the very best chance. In my family it changed everything. My late father, Grant, was the first in his family to go to university; with the help of a scholarship he juggled three jobs whilst studying part time and parenting. He graduated as a civil structural engineer. His belief in the change that education and, in particular, technical training can make led him to an early career teaching at TAFE. Every kid deserves the opportunity that my dad had, wherever they grow up—in Dundas Valley or Wyong.

I am proud to be part of a government that's making post-school education a reality for many people and families from disadvantaged backgrounds, with more Commonwealth-supported university places and hundreds and thousands of more places for fee-free TAFE. There are 480,000 places. My five brothers and my sister are now physicists, plumbers, sociologists, statisticians, business analysts and lawyers—all because of the chance of my father's and mother's education. Under the last government, that chance was slipping away for too many kids, especially those growing up in the outer suburbs and regions. As it currently stands in Dobell, 15 per cent of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher diploma. It's probably not dissimilar in the neighbouring seat that my colleague and friend, Minister Pat Conroy, represents.

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