Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge Senator Siewert’s points and the deeply held view that she has and that there are concerns being expressed in the community at large about this matter, but it is important to emphasise that this simple proposition involves a trial in selected locations around the country. It is a trial to establish whether the strategies proposed here will have a positive impact on school enrolment and attendance rates. This is an opportunity to demonstrate whether or not these strategies actually work.

There have of course been sincere concerns raised by community organisations who have made submissions to the Senate inquiry on these questions—which were reflected in some of the passion with which Senator Siewert has approached this matter tonight. However, it is important to get the facts on the table in this regard. The proposed trial phase of the measure and the evaluation will be considered carefully by the government before any extension of this program is approved. This is a measure that is aimed at ensuring that parents in the trial areas do all that they can to ensure that their children go to school.

There are measures in this bill which do involve possible temporary suspension of Centrelink payments. Such sanction will be used as a last resort and only after multiple opportunities have been provided for parents to engage with their children’s schools and with Centrelink. Whatever one says about the merits of such an approach, you cannot deny the fact that this is not unique with regard to the application and the operations of Centrelink. Centrelink suspending payments and restoring payments is not a new practice; in fact, it is normal operating procedure for Centrelink. This, however, has to be seen in the context of this particular measure, which is aimed at encouraging people to do all they can to make sure their children go to school.

With respect to the overall package, it would be wrong to address these issues merely in terms of the discussion around sanctions, because this is a bill that provides some $17.6 million in federal funding to support these measures. That involves support under the Northern Territory emergency response funding. Eighteen new classrooms are expected to be completed by the end of the year at remote schools—14 in government-run schools and four for Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School at Wadeye. Funding was also provided through the 2008-09 federal budget for a further six remote area classrooms. The Australian government is also contributing $16 million towards the construction of the Tiwi College and almost $100 million over five years to place 200 extra teachers in remote area schools.

The Australian government is also providing $8.4 million in 2008 for a quality teacher package and an accelerated literacy measure. The package will assist in reducing teacher turnover in remote schools by strengthening the skills of the existing educational workforce with a particular emphasis on local Indigenous staff. It will provide assistance to 45 remote government and non-government schools, including those at Wadeye, at Hermannsburg and on the Tiwi Islands. A further $5 million will also be provided to build 10 new teacher houses at Wadeye. This is part of the Australian government’s commitment to help recruit quality teachers and improve learning opportunities for Indigenous children.

So I would suggest to the Greens in terms of their critique of this particular program that they look at the full program and actually take a balanced view on these questions. In essence, the government is saying that, if you want to ensure that every child is able to attain the maximum of their ability within our education system, a fundamental requirement is that they go to school. We will do all we can in terms of the Commonwealth providing resources to ensure the quality of the education experience for children who do go to school. But it is also up to parents to ensure that their children attend school and take advantage of those facilities.

This is an additional tool, and the government is prepared to evaluate it and, after careful consideration, assess how it works. The truth of the matter is: for too long in this country we have had attainment rates that have meant that significant proportions of the Australian population have missed out. They have missed out in many respects. All the indicators suggest to me that, in terms of the equity measures, we are falling behind. It is the government’s view that further additional measures need to be taken to evaluate whether or not we can improve our performance. This is one such measure. I commend the bill to the chamber.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.