Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for his motion as, like him, I also want to see a better and fairer education system from early education right through to university. But, while the government has been espousing cheaper child care, one of the biggest challenges families in my electorate is that of accessibility. I'd like to read an email I received just before Christmas, one that sums up the experiences of too many families in my electorate. It says:

Over the past 7 months, I have been actively seeking suitable day care options for my little one, who is set to start in February …

Unfortunately, the waiting lists for these facilities are proving to be excessively long, making it challenging for parents like me to secure a spot for our children.

This situation has left me feeling disheartened …

…   …   …

Additionally, I want to emphasize that the current difficulties in accessing timely day care services may force families like mine to make difficult decisions, such as one parent having to stop working.

This potential loss of income could be a significant financial blow for us and, I imagine, for many other families in our community.

I am also concerned about how families with lower levels of income or single parents are managing this situation.

The challenges they face are likely even more daunting.

Of course, I note that meaningfully tackling the issues that sit around early learning education and care is difficult, and this is a particularly challenging policy egg to unscramble. But let's not pretend that by making it cheaper it magically fixes the myriad problems that have sat around this policy area for at least the past two decades. I believe all parties have the best intentions, but we have to do away with tinkering at the edges and embrace bold structural reform that might deliver on an equity of opportunity.

Tasmanian public school students returned for term 1 last week, ready for another full year of learning. Anecdotally I'm hearing of unprecedented teacher shortages across both public and independent schools, where demand is far outstripping supply. I remember hearing from one local school in my electorate last year who tried and failed to find a relief teacher after calling 24 different teachers. I acknowledge the efforts that the federal government has taken to address the shortage through the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, which was agreed to by all state education ministers at the end of 2022, and I understand that progress reports will become available this year. I'll be interested to see how this plan is working on the ground in Tasmania, particularly in my Northern Tasmanian electorate.

We know that truly making our education system fairer and better comes down to full funding, an issue that I have advocated, joining the Australian Education Union late last year and calling on the federal government to commit to filling the 10 per cent funding gap in my state. I will be addressing this in response to the member for Pearce's private member's bill later this evening.

Lastly, I want to briefly cover the priority actions raised by the member for Robertson regarding the AustralianUniversities Accord:interim report. I commend the government's measure for demand driven places for First Nations students from metropolitan areas, as it's a step towards addressing the higher education accessibility gap for Indigenous Australians. But, as someone who grew up in a regional and rural area and now represents that electorate, I know that there's more work to be done to ensure that students in these areas have the same educational opportunities to attain higher education if they want to. According to the ABC, in May 2021, 48.6 per cent of people aged 25 to 34 years in major cities had a bachelor's degree or above, compared to 26.9 per cent in inner regional areas, 21.1 per cent in outer regional areas and approximately 16.6 per cent in remote and very remote areas.

I understand the reasoning behind the regional study hubs, but I do have some concerns. These are shared by those in my community—by a group of committed and engaged members who have been involved with the university for many years, who, while in support of many of the measures outlined in the interim report, raise reasonable and relevant concerns regarding the hubs, particularly how hubs will be defined and implemented in a way that won't be detrimental to what's already offered by the University of Tasmania.

There is unease about the possibility that larger universities may be able to set up so-called hubs in areas of Tasmania and qualify for regional loading benefits without offering any of the necessary wraparound support services or engagement opportunities offered by institutions like UTAS. I urge the minister to engage with local stakeholders and address these concerns.

I'll always fight for the best interests of Northern Tasmania, and I don't want to see any measure implemented that would disadvantage students in my region or our single higher education institution.

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