Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I rise to speak about a very important issue not only in my electorate but in all electorates around Australia, and that is the issue of education. A few weeks ago a group of parents from electorates around Australia came to Canberra to see their federal members. A group of parents and teachers from my electorate visited my office here in Canberra to talk to me about providing a good education.

They came to tell me about the challenges they face as parents, as educators and as carers providing a quality education with the funding that is handed out to the education system. They do a magnificent job. I head firsthand of the trials and tribulations of teachers, parents and all those involved in the education system.

They told me about the pressures on teachers, parents and school staff and the work they do with the resources allocated to them. They also came to tell me that their school communities overwhelmingly support the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Gonski report. We all saw the Gonski report earlier this year, and I was lucky enough to have the Prime Minister come to my electorate and speak to principals about that particular report.

With them, they brought more than 500 signatures from local parents, teachers, staff and friends of our local schools. These signatures were in support of the following statement:

We the undersigned endorse the Gonski report and call upon you as the Federal Member of Parliament to make a public commitment to the following pledge:

The pledge reads:

I pledge to support in the Commonwealth Parliament a move for the introduction during 2012 of enabling legislation for the purposes of implementing the recommendations of the Gonski report.

I am very proud to make that pledge tonight and I encourage other members of parliament to make that same pledge.

As we all know, the Gonski report on the funding of Australian schools has found that Australia lacks a logical, consistent and publicly transparent approach to funding schools. It noted that increased concentrations of disadvantaged students in certain schools is having a significant impact on education outcomes, particularly but not only in the government sector; across all sectors.

The Gonski report recommends the development of a new funding model incorporating an Australian schooling resource standard as the basis for general recurrent funding through all Australian schools. The report also says that the resource standard should include loadings for school size and location and for the proportion of students who are Indigenous or from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. Loadings are to increase in the schools where the concentration of such students is higher and where there is a higher proportion of students with limited English language proficiency.

We have all seen the Gonski report and we know the good things that are in there. We have also heard the Prime Minister talk about education and the importance of education. We know the best way out of poverty is through education. The best way to a better future, to have all those prospects of employment in your adult life, is through a very good education.

I am extremely proud tonight to make that pledge on behalf of the schools, the parents and school communities in my electorate. The signatures have come from teachers, parents and staff from all the schools in my electorate: from Henley High School, where the Australian government trade training centre is helping students to get ahead in life by providing them with real qualifications as part of school; from Thebarton Senior College, where many students are new arrivals in the country or adult entrants, and where the leadership team have built a program now considered best practice in Australia; from Glenelg Primary School, which does a wonderful job of equipping children to become lifelong learners with inquiring minds capable of working independently and collaboratively; from West Lakes Shore Schools, which have an inclusive culture shaped by the five key values of excellence, safety, honesty, diversity and respect; from Fulham North Primary School, where the focus is on getting along, lifelong learning, persistence, organisation, communication— (Time expired)