Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I'm just trying to turn that frown upside down. I'm just trying to turn that frown upside down.

They didn't just rip the guts out of hospitals; they ripped the guts out of schools as well, and we're all paying the price for that now. That's why what we announced in the Northern Territory a couple of weeks ago is so important—the biggest single investment in public education by the Australian government in the Northern Territory ever—bringing forward the day when we fully fund public schools in the Northern Territory by more than 20 years.

That's not a blank cheque. That funding will be tied to the sorts of things that are going to help more kids finish high school. That will change the lives of kids in the Northern Territory, because, if they finish school, their kids when they have them will be more likely to finish school too. That's what a good education does. It ricochets through families and communities, it ricochets through generations, and it helps all of us here, too, because it means we'll have a stronger economy if more kids finish school—and a better and a fairer country.

But to do this we'll need to introduce legislation through this parliament to increase the investment in public education. And London to a brick, when we do this, the Liberal Party will vote against it. And if they win the next election then you know exactly what they'll do—what they did 10 years ago: light up the cigars, rip the money out of public schools and smile while they do it.

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