Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is a hard act to follow! On this side of the House, we back public schools every day of the week. During the election campaign in Macnamara, there were others who liked to talk down public schools, but not on this side—not in the Labor Party. We back our public schools. And there's no better public school in Macnamara than Middle Park Primary School, first built in 1887. We were proud to commit $1 million to the redevelopment of Middle Park Primary School. It's a school that deserves support from the Labor government, which was going to keep class sizes small—support for students and teachers to make sure that each and every student has the facilities and resources that they need to get a great education, because every single Australian kid deserves a great education no matter what school they go to.

We were never going to short-change students like those opposite were. Those opposite were only interested in cutting funding to schools, while we were willing to back our public schools each and every day. Under the Labor government in Victoria our public schools have grown. In Macnamara we have some outstanding public schools, and we support them every single day. Albert Park College has grown under a Labor government. Elwood College has grown under a Labor government. The school closest to my home, Glen Eira College, has grown under a Labor government. We support our kids and we support public education.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded.