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

Building the Education Revolution includes two specific measures to improve educational equity. The back-to-school bonus of $950 per child will help low- and middle-income families meet educational costs for the 2009 school year. The $950 training and learning bonus will help students and people outside the workforce with their educational costs in returning to study. Universities Australia have welcomed this measure but the opposition has rejected it. They believe in supporting working families and seeking to increase their job and life opportunities by improving their education. Why doesn’t the opposition take that view? The opposition, of course, does not care how much pain and how much suffering it inflicts upon the Australian people. It is time they took off their neoliberal blinkers and had a look at what is actually happening in the real world. It is time they stood up for Australian jobs. (Time expired)