Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Social Inclusion. How is the government supporting quality teaching through the Smarter Schools National Partnership Agreement and are there any threats to this policy?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for her important question and I draw the attention of the House to the fact that the Grattan Institute today has released an important report on teacher evaluation and teacher quality. Unsurprisingly, like the reports and evidence from around the world, this report finds that the single most important thing for the quality of a child’s education is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. That is why as a government we have been systematically investing in teacher quality and in the quality of school leadership. We needed to do this because, when we came to government, whilst over 12 long years the coalition had talked about teacher quality, it had got nothing done. That was not the only problem, of course. It had talked about national curriculum, and it had got nothing done. It had talked about school transparency, and it had got nothing done. Across more than 12 long years, what we saw in education from those opposite was a track record of all talk and shameful inaction—absolutely shameful inaction.

This government has acted, as opposed to the talk, talk, talk from the other side. Our new reforms include bringing the highest quality graduates into teaching in disadvantaged schools through our Teach for Australia program. Today, as we stand here, Shaun Isbister is teaching maths at Mill Park Secondary College. Shaun got an ENTER score of 96.6 and a first-class honours degree in economics and commerce. His motto for his classroom is: results, not excuses. Shaun is one of 45—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Prime Minister will resume her seat. I just remind the member for Sturt that he should be careful when going about his business as Manager of Opposition Business about standing and—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Pyne interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have got myself into trouble because I understand that. I have got myself into trouble because I now have the screen that gives me the feed that is going outside, so I just suggest to some people on the right that these minor matters are being dealt with and that they should listen to what is going on. The Deputy Prime Minister has the call.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I expect them to not be interested in education; it was their track record for a decade. Today, Shaun and 45 others are out there teaching through our Teach for Australia program, with more to come. These reforms in teacher quality mean today that the best teachers are being paid more to go to the classrooms that need them the most, and there are trials of performance based rewards in schools, including the prospect of outstanding teachers in Victoria earning $6,000 more. It means today there are differences for principal autonomy in state schools, including measures announced by the ACT government last week about school based management of staff and budgets, and in the Northern Territory business consultants are being made available to assist principals to run their schools. Today in Western Australia, as a result of our resources and reforms, more than 30 state schools are now called independent public schools, with the principals in them having greater autonomy, including the power to hire and fire. It was an honour for me to meet some of those principals on a recent trip to Western Australia.

I am asked about threats to these reforms. The threat to these reforms arises from the game of ‘pass the parcel’ played about the budget reply last week, because the $425 million which would enable us to continue these reforms is on the Leader of the Opposition’s cuts list. No more investment in principal autonomy; no more investment in paying the best teachers more to reward them; no more investment in bringing the best graduates into teaching: that is the policy of the Leader of the Opposition.

Just like the Leader of the Opposition, who believes everything he says is just dispensable, that it does not matter whether or not it is the truth, the shadow minister cannot be relied on when he makes statements. He has said, ‘The coalition believe our teachers need to be appropriately resourced, supported and rewarded.’ But they have pledged to cut the funding that makes that possible. He said today in the Australian newspaper:

“… disenchantment and disappointment teachers have in their profession will only get worse until there is a real revolution in education, which introduces competitive principals and gives schools more autonomy.”

But he has pledged to cut the funding that makes that possible—a breathtaking act of hypocrisy from those failures in education when they were in government. Even other members of their political party think they are crazy, erratic and a risk to education. Adrian Piccoli, the coalition’s shadow minister for education in New South Wales, said in the parliament of New South Wales last week:

We support every measure that can be put in place to improve teacher quality. I do not believe it is a particularly good move by the Federal Coalition to announce that it will cut this funding should it be elected.

The message to the Leader of the Opposition is clear. Even members of his own political party, the Liberal Party, believe he is a man drawn to extreme policies and crazy, erratic cuts. This just proves that the coalition are now pledged to diminish the quality of Australian education as a result of their budget reply. It is now crystal clear they are a risk to the economy, they are a risk to local schools and they are a risk to the services that working families rely on.