Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very glad to speak on this motion. I thank the member for Pearce for bringing it forward. The member for Pearce knows the transformative, egalitarian power of education. She knows that it can be the greatest means of delivering fairness, equality of opportunity and individual fulfilment, which is why it's always been a core pursuit of the Australian labour movement and the Australian Labor Party. Just as Labor built Medicare to be the foundation of our universal public health system, we are now working to ensure that public schools are funded to 100 per cent of the schooling resource standard. As a proud Western Australian, I am really pleased to be here tonight with my WA Labor colleagues to recognise the cooperative work of the Albanese and Cook Labor governments which will mean that WA is the first state to reach that milestone. Thanks to the work of Minister Jason Clare and his WA counterpart, Tony Buti, all public schools in WA will reach the 100 per cent SRS mark by 2026, with disadvantaged schools getting there a year earlier in 2025.

I am fortunate to have grown up shaped by a public school education. My mum is a teacher. She continues to work right now at age 76 on a relief basis to support the learning of children with disability. Both my sister and my sister-in-law work in public schools. My best friend retrained from having been a stonemason to be a school teacher, and he is part of the incredible and life-changing team at Port School in Freo.

Every year I am privileged to visit and spend time with the teachers, staff and students at some of the 63 schools in my electorate, from North Freo to Aubin Grove Primary School, one of the largest primary schools in the state, and from Treeby to South Lake and South Coogee. As I've said, education is the great driver and guarantor of opportunity and equality. It's the best way of supporting social mobility and of resisting the socioeconomic factors that otherwise limit a child's potential as a result of their postcode or circumstances. At a time of difficult economic pressures, which always put equality at risk, it is vital that we refocus our efforts on improving our education system, to ensure that no child is left behind.

Not for the first time, it's a Labor government that's stepping up to support public schools, just as we support access to early childhood education. We know what a high-quality and accessible public education system means for shaping a healthier and fairer society. We know that, by investing in our schools, we're investing in the engine rooms of opportunity for young people and providing teachers with the resources they need to make that happen. This landmark agreement by the Albanese and Cook Labor governments will see all Western Australian public schools fully funded to the resource standard for the first time, creating a stronger public education system for all, to help every student fulfil their potential.

Under the coalition's schools agreement, the equity gap in schools actually widened. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds were found to be three times more likely to fall behind. That should never have been the case. We can't allow that to continue.

By contrast, Labor's National School Reform Agreement will link funding to reforms which are designed to improve education across the board. As part of this new agreement, Labor will focus the additional funds where they're needed most, so that children can catch up, keep up and stay in school. As I said, by 2026, the year after next, every child in Western Australia's public education system will attend a fully-funded school, and, quite rightly, the most marginalised schools will get there a year earlier, next year.

The Albanese government is delivering an additional $777.4 million into the Western Australian public school system over the next four years. The Cook government's commitments add to that, and the total package of funding is $1.6 billion over that period. It will improve the quality of school education, improve student and staff wellbeing and support a strong and sustainable workforce.

Last year, one of the most heartening and uplifting experiences I had was going to Atwell College and seeing how they support the education of children with a range of disabilities. I had a tour with Deputy Principal Brent Passchier, and all of the features of that college function together in the specialist Kim Beazley Learning Centre building, to support kids who really need the best that our education system can offer, and the faculty and students there make it a caring, creative and flexible learning environment.

There is no question that, by making sure our public schools are as good as they can be and should be, we'll be true to our values in this country—our values of fairness and equality of opportunity. This breakthrough new agreement between the Albanese and Cook Labor governments is a massive step in supporting Western Australian schools to deliver on that promise.

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