Bruce Baird (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Education, Science and Training. Would the minister outline measures to improve school governance and teacher quality? How might this improve academic standards, including for schools in Cook?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cook for his question and I particularly thank him for organising a meeting with school principals from schools in his electorate last year so that we could talk about issues of concern to them. Teachers are a precious national resource. After parents, teachers are the single most important determinants in a child’s educational outcomes. That is why we must focus on quality teaching.

For schools to be able to provide quality education, principals must have greater autonomy. Principals must have greater management control over staffing and over budgets. Principals in our schools must have the power to hire and fire staff according to performance, like any other head of an organisation or enterprise has. How else can a school principal guarantee a quality education, if they have no control over the quality of the staff?

What we must do in order to attract and retain the very best, high-quality teachers is to provide more flexible and more attractive workplace conditions, and that includes offering rewards and incentives based on performance. Today I announced that I will be taking to the next state education ministers’ meeting a number of proposals relating to greater principal autonomy and ensuring that we have an element of performance based pay for teachers. We must attract, retain and reward the very best teachers. They are professionals. Let us treat them as professionals.

I note that the new Labor education spokesman, early on, ventured into this issue of teacher performance. He made a few noises about teacher performance. But, immediately, he was hauled back into line by the Australian Education Union, who even threatened to withhold campaign funding from the Labor Party unless they toed the line. Federally, Labor will never be able to deliver on education reforms because they are captives of the all-powerful teachers’ unions.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The level of noise is far too high. The minister has the call.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As was stated in a report released this week by the Centre for Independent Studies, public schools in this country will only flourish when we break the nexus between teacher unions and state governments. The Howard government will continue to put the interests of students and parents first in our quest for quality in education in Australia.

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for Education, Science and Training. I refer to her previous answer and to her suggestion earlier today and in the House about teacher quality, teacher salaries and increasing teachers’ salaries and incentives on the basis of performance. What additional Commonwealth funds will the minister and the government provide to support such a proposal?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would first ask whether federal Labor supports the Australian government’s proposal to award teachers—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will resume her seat.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Macklin interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members should be aware that when the Speaker is standing any interjection is highly disorderly. The minister has been asked a question; the minister will be heard. I call the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I look forward to bipartisan support from the Federal Labor Party—

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Macklin interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Jagajaga! The minister has the call.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I look forward to the bipartisan support of the federal Labor Party on our proposals to reward teachers on performance—to provide incentives for the performance of our teachers in our schools—because that underpins quality. In answer to the question about funding, I remind members opposite that the Commonwealth provides supplementary funding to state governments that provide the majority of funding for state government schools.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Macklin interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Jagajaga is warned!

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The percentage of funding that the Australian government provides to state governments is based on the investment that state governments make, and that has been the case for decades. So, if the state governments increase their investments in our schools—

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Owens interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Parramatta is warned!

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the Australian government’s component increases automatically. Over the 2005-08 funding period—that funding arrangement—the Australian government is already providing $33 billion to state governments for our schools. I hope that at the state education ministers’ meeting in April I receive bipartisan support to recognise that our teachers are professionals and that they should be respected and rewarded as such.