Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

A robust education system focused on educational outcomes and opportunities is the foundation of our society and the individual. As I said in my first speech, education is the foundation to create a great life. It's my fundamental belief that the crucial element to lift people out of poverty and for them to build a better life for themselves and their communities is a strong education system, a system focused on delivering tangible education outcomes for students to set them up for long-term success.

It is so important that we do all we can to lift student outcomes. Governments have invested billions in education. Unfortunately, results have been going backwards. It is important that we provide parents with choice in their education of their children. Personally, I was lucky to be raised by my mum, who was a teacher, and is still a teacher, in a public school. My wife is a teacher aide in one of our local schools, and so I've seen firsthand the impact that teachers and teacher aides have on the students. So I want to take a moment to pay tribute to all teachers, to all teacher aids—to everyone in the education system. They give so much back to our community.

Education is crucial, but, unfortunately, we have another motion on a Monday from the government that talks a big game but doesn't actually deliver, when you dig down into the detail. Let's use one example of the Minister for Education talking a big game but not delivering the actual outcome for students, for teachers and for the community. In 2022, the Minister for Education promised that Labor would provide $68.3 million to fund up to 2,260 high-achieving teachers who would be fast-tracked into classrooms most in need. Like always, it was a big announcement, and there was big hoopla about this important announcement. However, in September this year, the government quietly announced that it's going to spend $70.9 million and is only going to deliver 1,497 teachers. That is hundreds of positions short of what was promised. It's clear they have no plan to address the teacher shortages that are impacting communities right across Australia. Minister Clare has been missing in action on urgent reforms needed, such as teacher training, including the explicit teaching of behaviour in their curriculum.

But don't take my word for it that the federal Labor government are letting down the Australian people. Let's go to the Victorian ALP Minister for Education, Minister Ben Carroll. He was critical of the federal Labor government and their funding; he was asked to clarify whether the previous coalition government had done a better job in funding public schools, and Mr Carroll replied that yes, they had. The Victorian ALP Minister for Education confirmed that the former coalition government did a better job funding public schools than the current federal Labor government.

We see the words 'on the table' in the motion, and the reason this money is on the table is that the government have not been able to land agreements with Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT. We have a government again patting themselves on the back for the great job they're doing, but in reality they haven't delivered for five states and territories across the country.

As I said, education is crucial to our community. Recently, I was lucky enough to visit St Andrews and Wonga Park primary schools, which are new schools in my electorate. My daughter had fun making honey joys out of the recipe book from the Wonga Park Primary School. It was great to meet with Wonga Park Primary School principal, Julie, and St Andrews Primary School principals, Carol and Hayley. When I visited, Carol and Hayley and their students were busy serving and hosting the senior's festival high tea, an example of how our schools connect with the wider community.

And recently, I had the opportunity to celebrate the Christmas Hills Primary School and the Woori Yallock Primary School 150th birthdays celebrations. They were a great testament to those communities and what they've given to our community. Christmas Hills, in particular, is special. It was the school that my mum spent over a decade teaching at. It's a small school. It's a great school. That's why we've got to continue to back education outcomes in Victoria and across the country.

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