Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government is delivering:

(a) cheaper child care and boosting wages for early childhood educators;

(b) record needs-based funding for schools across the country;

(c) free TAFE;

(d) more opportunities for more Australians from the outer-suburbs and the bush to go to university; and

(e) student debt relief; and

(2) acknowledges that investing in the education and skills of young Australians is a key component of building Australia's future.

Building Wyndham's future begins with investing in education. As a local educator of 27 years, I know this more than most. It is in a Labor government's DNA to ensure that every Australian child has the best opportunity to reach their potential, to develop their thinking, to develop their capacities and to go on to make a contribution to our country. That is why it is so important. This Labor government has got their backs, from our littlest Australians to our most aspirational students at university. They've got the backs of the families who live in the city of Wyndham.

We have 10,800 families with students in early education or child care in the seat of Lawler. The latest data shows that families across Australia have saved up to $2,768 since the Cheaper Child Care subsidies came into effect in July 2023. This is cost-of-living relief, but it also goes to this government's commitment to quality education and support for families. We're supporting the workforce who deliver this quality education and care, investing $3.6 billion to support a 15 per cent wage increase over two years for early childhood education workers across the country. This means that we will attract quality people to this workforce. We will maintain and retain experienced workers in early education and child care. It goes to our commitment—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:10 to 18:30

This federal Labor government's commitment to education can also be underlined by the school funding that has just been announced. I'm talking about the national partnership agreement that's just been signed with the state of Victoria, which means an estimated $2.5 billion in additional Commonwealth funding to all Victorian public schools over the next 10 years. This is critically important for communities like mine with many, many families and thousands upon thousands of school children.

What my community now knows is that the Gonski review found three critical things. The first thing that Gonski found—and that people need to understand—is that there was very, very little fat in the state education system across this country. It was a lean financial machine and still is. The second thing the review found was that need based funding works and is required, and, of course, that's rolling through. The third thing Gonski found was the secret sauce—what's called the Schooling Resource Standard. In school terms, I'd say, as an ex-principal, SRS is: what is the magic funding number where, if every student in a state school was funded to that minimum standard, we know we could provide everything our students need?

Well, the Labor government's commitment means that Victorian schoolchildren will get their SRS based funding in every state school in Victoria. That is great news for communities like mine, where people really value education and really value what's happening with their young person and how they're developing in that space. This funding is focused on excellence, equity and improving wellbeing for learning. Some of it supports student wellbeing and promotes a strong and sustainable workforce. Attracting skilled people into our classrooms is critically important.

The last piece is TAFE and vocational education in the higher education space. In an aspirational community like mine, where people are really aspiring to get that degree and get that masters—in the city of Wyndham, we have the highest number of PhDs per head, next to Carlton, coming out of places like Point Cook, Williams Landing, Tarneit and Truganina, where our new and emerging communities are very aspiring. What we've done there is we've capped the HELP indexation rate, which is already reducing the cost to students. And, if elected, we will take 20 per cent off HECS debts across the country.

That leaves me with 26 seconds to give a shout-out to fee-free TAFE. What a difference this is making in communities like mine for people who want to retrain or for young people who are looking to find the thing that they want to do but who don't think they're destined for university. Fee-free TAFE is unlocking opportunity in the suburbs around this country, and in no suburb is it more important than in mine in outer-west Victoria.

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