Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week students at Leonay Public School in my electorate of Lindsay are embarking on their school Canberra trip, and I'll be meeting them here at Parliament House. It's always a delight to see local students here in our nation's parliament getting a hands-on lesson in Australian democracy, and their excitement and engagement truly is heartwarming. When I meet with students both here and in my community, what's always at the front of my mind is: are they being educated and trained with the skills that they need to take on the jobs of the future?

The Minister for Education and Youth recently joined me in Penrith, where I brought together a number of our local principals as well as met with Western Sydney University to discuss the challenges and opportunities for schools and students in our community. I've also recently brought the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business to meet with my Advancing Manufacturing Taskforce, with representatives from schools, TAFE, universities and our strong local manufacturing industry. Both discussions with schools and with industry emphasise the need to ensure education is preparing these students, equipping them with the right skills for the jobs, that are coming to Western Sydney, but we are not there yet.

The classrooms of today across Western Sydney are playing the most central role in educating our kids with the jobs of the future. It is absolutely essential we are getting the settings right, from the school curriculum to how our teachers are being trained, to ensure students have the skills they will need to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. This is an issue I have been passionate about since my first day in parliament and long before. In my maiden speech to parliament I asked:

How do we move the dial so that more people can work where they live? The answer is in Lindsay. We ensure that Lindsay's world-class education institutions … are training our local kids in the jobs of the future. This starts in school and connects all the way through to post school education and workforce training.

It is imperative that today, in classrooms across Western Sydney, these students are being taught by experienced and qualified teachers with STEM backgrounds. How will local people be prepared, educated and trained in the jobs of the future if their teachers aren't?

We have an opportunity here that we cannot let pass. Western Sydney is poised to create tens of thousands of jobs, developing the emerging industries in advanced manufacturing, defence, space, research and medicine. The investment in the Western Sydney airport and Aerotropolis precinct offers a unique opportunity for us to seize the emerging advanced manufacturing industry. COVID-19 has reaffirmed the importance of a sovereign manufacturing capability onshore, and the private sector recognises the potential of our regions.

I join the Prime Minister in welcoming Visy's $2 billion commitment over 10 years into its Australian operations, made right in the heart of Penrith. The Sydney Science Park, a $5 billion private industry investment, is set to transform Luddenham into a hub for research, education, innovation and commercialisation. They too recognise Western Sydney's potential with the government's investment and desire to accelerate advanced manufacturing. To make the most of this investment in our community, we must ensure that our children are developing the skills they will need, and this all comes back to the classroom. We must do more to encourage, recruit and keep STEM professionals in teaching to ensure local people are ready for these local jobs.

The Minister for Education and Youth has launched a review looking at how to attract high-quality teachers and better prepare them to be effective in the classroom. The Quality Initial Teacher Education Review panel's discussion paper notes that quality teaching is the most significant in-school driver of student outcomes and school quality, accounting for up to 30 per cent of the variance in achievement. I'm concerned, particularly focusing on STEM, that there are longstanding shortages of STEM teachers. Data also shows that up to 17 per cent of STEM teachers are not teaching STEM. This is at a year 10 level, when children are being prepared to enter the workforce and further education. Instead, they are teaching non-STEM subjects. The review's focus on attracting and selecting high-quality candidates into teaching and to prepare initial teacher education students to be effective teachers could not be more important in my electorate of Lindsay. I will be working closely with the minister—and we've already had discussions—as the review progresses to ensure that we are leading qualified STEM professionals into classrooms right across Western Sydney to prepare our children, particularly in Lindsay, for the jobs of the future.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The arts and entertainment sector was the first to be impacted by the coronavirus restrictions and will be one of the last to return to normal. Very early on in the pandemic, Labor called on the government to provide support. However, it took more than 100 days after that call for the government to act at all. For months, Scott Morrison and his ministers stubbornly insisted that it wasn't necessary, that somehow an industry that had been completely shut down by coronavirus restrictions didn't need any extra assistance or support. Then, after seven long months, the government finally relented and announced its support package for the arts. But it was full of holes, and it took many more months again for the emergency funding to even start flowing.

Now is the time to be properly funding and supporting the arts, our artists and, indeed, this industry. There are excellent projects in Newcastle, which this government should be supporting right now, which are ready to be started straightaway.

It's great to see that the Morrison government has finally realised the value of regional art galleries and has recently funded the Rockhampton Art Gallery for $10 million under the Building Better Regions Fund and the Cairns Art Gallery for $10 million under the Regional Recovery Partnerships program. The City of Newcastle has also applied for $10 million under both of these funding streams. This is a modest request of the Commonwealth by the City of Newcastle for a priority project that is costed at $35.6 million in total. The expansion of the Newcastle Art Gallery has been a shovel-ready project for many years. We just need the Commonwealth to get on board. The Newcastle Art Gallery has tremendous social, cultural and economic value. This expansion project will create an estimated 170 jobs as well as significantly increase visitor numbers to Newcastle and the Hunter region. I've long been an advocate for this project, and I again offer my full support to the Newcastle Art Gallery expansion project. This is a terrific project deserving of this government's full support.

Another exciting project in my electorate that has also applied for the Building Better Regions Fund is the Victoria Theatre. The Victoria Theatre, opened in 1891, is New South Wales's oldest heritage theatre. The theatre closed in 1966, but, excitingly, the Next Century trust are hoping to reopen the doors of this irreplaceable cultural asset. The construction of the project will generate up to 45 jobs, with a further 165 ongoing hospitality and creative jobs. It's predicted that, within three years of beginning operation, the theatre will deliver $50 million in economic benefit. Newcastle and the Hunter region have been alive with the possibility that the glorious Victoria Theatre may once again enrich the cultural and artistic life of Newcastle and the Hunter. There is a huge amount of community support for this project, and again I strongly urge the Commonwealth government to commit to funding the creative soul of our region

If the government are serious about their belated interest in the arts with the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand Fund, or RISE, then they need to be backing in projects like the Carrington music festival and the Edwards street festival, which have both made applications for that fund. The Edwards street festival, due to take place in March 2022, is a bespoke music and arts curated festival taking place in and around the Edwards bar and restaurant and its adjacent streets. It will play on the precinct's burgeoning and evolving arts and creative scene and will feature live music from Australia's best emerging artists, in addition to well-loved and popular Australian artists. The Carrington music festival will sit within the City of Newcastle's flagship arts festival New Annual in their 2020 program, featuring a mix of international and domestic touring artists. Both of these festivals will be a massive boost to the local economy and will provide much-needed support for Australian musicians.

On top of the live music, I'd also like to give a big shout-out to the From A Distance Sessions, or FAD Sessions. These are live-streamed performances from venues in Newcastle that helped keep original music and live performance alive during the pandemic. Led by Allon Silove and Joshua Barnett and run totally by volunteers, From A Distance Sessions helped musicians, dancers, comedians, entertainers and performers maintain a vibrant and current presence during COVID.

For many artists and entertainers, recovery is still a long way away. Labor won't forget you, and we'll continue to advocate to get you the support you need and deserve.