Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The public education system is an integral part of who I am as a person. I proudly went to public schools. My kids proudly go to our local public school. My mum, Penny, who I've spoken about many times in this House before, was a very proud public school teacher here in Canberra. She worked in the Canberra public education system for her entire working life.

My mum embodied the absolute best of our public education system. She was passionate about every single one of the students that she had learning and living and thriving in the classrooms. She was determined to see them succeed, both inside and outside the school gates. As a union activist she fought for the rights and conditions of her fellow educators, knowing that better workplace conditions would lead to better education outcomes and fairer outcomes for our community overall. And it's fair to say that from time to time she did have to cop it from other teachers—her colleagues no less—when I was particularly boisterous at school.

When my brother and I were growing up mum instilled in us the core values that I carry into this place today—the values I try to live my life by: fairness, collectivism and access to opportunity for all. So today I could not be prouder to stand up in this great place on Public Education Day to recognise all the public teachers, classroom aides, early childhood educators and principals across our schools, preschools and TAFEs. Each and every day in classrooms across the country our public school teachers go above and beyond. This Public Education Day is a time to recognise the central role that public schools, preschools and TAFEs play in our lives and our communities. Our schools and the way we treat them say a lot about who we are. Public education is a public good, which collectively benefits every single person in our country, and it should be recognised for that.

In Hawke we are so fortunate to have local educators who have passion and drive for public education. We have schools like Sunbury Downs College, which offers a fantastic range of leadership opportunities, vocational training and so much more; and Melton Primary School, which has such a strong sense of community and brings everybody together. More than 17,000 students attend public schools in Hawke. Every day they are given the best start at life by the teachers and the educators that they work with.

It is Labor governments that have always been and will always be on the side of public education. The Albanese government knows that when we invest in public education we're investing in all of our futures. We are committed to building a better and fairer education system for all Australians through delivering fair funding in public education, addressing teacher workload and turning around the workforce shortage.

We've delivered more than $770 billion for better schools, happier and healthier students, and more qualified teachers. Not only that but we're encouraging more students to take up teaching, with university scholarships worth up to 40 grand, because the skills shortage in this sector was left to languish for a decade under the former Liberal government. We're making the necessary changes to set it right.

Then there are reforms to TAFE. Together with the states and territories, last year we made a $1 billion investment in fee-free TAFE and vocational education places. This provided 180,000 fee-free TAFE places, making sure we're training the next generation for the in-demand jobs of the future. In April this year the Albanese government announced we're investing an additional $3.7 billion for a five-year national skills agreement, as well as $400 million for another 300,000 TAFE and VET fee-free places.

No Australian should be held back from a chance at a better future because of poverty, postcode or lack of privilege. The contrast between the Labor government and the previous Liberal government could not be greater. It is the Liberals who close schools. It's the Liberals who cut education funding. It's the Liberals who slash TAFE places. It's the Liberals who undervalue the good work that our educators do, because, fundamentally, they don't value public education. Our teachers right across the country can see through their tactics when it comes to education policy. They left a mess that is now being cleaned up by this government, as all Labor governments do.

We're making the system fairer, easier to access and more responsive to the needs of the next generation. We are building a better future for all Australians with our support for public education in this country.

House adjourned at 16:59

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ) took the chair at 09:29.