Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, I joined the education minister, Jason Clare, and Chief Executive of the Australian Academy of Science, Anna-Maria Arabia, to launch the reimagined Primary Connections and reSolve primary science and mathematics resources at Hughes Primary School. I'd especially like to thank the principal, Nina McCabe, and the wonderful students from Hughes for welcoming us into their beautiful school, one of our great ACT public schools.

I had the opportunity to join the classes in some really engaging science experiments, which was a great way to start the day. These new maths and science resources are free for every school across Australia. They will ensure that every student has access to quality maths and science resources and they will help support teachers to inspire students to fall in love with STEM subjects and make the breakthroughs of the future.

The Australian Academy of Science has a long history of providing innovative and quality scientific education resources since 1967, and we are so lucky to have the academy right here on our doorstep in Canberra alongside our great schools. This announcement brought together two things close to my heart and the heart of our government: science and public education.

The Albanese Labor government is committed to working with state and territory governments to put all schools on a pathway to full and fair funding at 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard. I'm proud that here in the ACT, on average, our schools are already achieving that. I'm proud that our ACT government is prioritising that and proud to be part of a government that believes in public education.