Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise—sadly—in support of this motion that has been put forward by Senator Claire Moore. It will be Labor that stands up for education and access to education in an equitable way for all Australians over and over and over. It was on Labor's watch that the most significant analysis of student success in schools was undertaken and it resulted in the Gonski review, which indicated very clearly after significant research that the way in which we could invest in the future of our young people is to make sure they get a fair crack at a decent education.

The last time I looked when I was heading off overseas, I had an Australian passport, not a passport for New South Wales—nor, as far as I know, Deputy President Whish-Wilson, as a proud Tasmanian, for Tasmania. We belong to a country which requires all of us to have access to a great education. It should not be so different from state to state, which is one of the problems we see with the American model.

Today's article by Matthew Knott in both The Age and the Canberra Times bells the cat on what this government really want to do, and I have heard it over and over and over at Senate estimates—an abrogation of responsibility from the federal government of key areas, particularly health and education. I have heard minister after minister stand there and actually proudly declare that it is rightly the responsibility of the state, completely abrogating any sense of national responsibility for the education of our nation into the future.

We live in a global economy. We have got a country that is diverse. We do not need to fracture it anymore by creating different levels of education across the states. With regard to the state of New South Wales, it was a bit of a shock to me to have heard in question time today claims that the states were responsible for this green paper. Is it a draft? Is it the real one that went out? But we heard today, clearly, that the states were involved in drafting it. I don't think anyone from New South Wales was involved in drafting it, because in the Financial Review today an article by Geoff Winestock said:

Ms Berejiklian called on the Abbott government to reverse a decision in last year's budget to slash payments to the state for education and health, which will start to take effect by the end of the current forecast period.

Ms Berejiklian said:

The changes to health and education funding the federal government announced last year are not sustainable, and we will be fighting for the people of NSW to ensure this State gets its fair share both now, and into the future.

If that is the case, there is no way they could have participated in the green paper, because that is the complete opposite of what this government is telling us here today.

Mr Piccoli is on record as saying, if the Commonwealth funding, the Gonski agreed funding—and it is agreed; it was agreed and they are still fighting for it for the children of New South Wales—is threatened:

would be threatened.

threatened.

threatened.

threatened.

The funding impact on the state of New South Wales is a loss of $2.8 billion. For Victoria, it is $2.1 billion; for Queensland, $2 billion; Western Australia, $570 million; South Australia, $450 million; Tasmania, $200 million; the ACT, $30 million; the Northern Territory, around $200 million; and, overall, for Australia, $8.3 billion. This is what is at stake—money of that scale.

I can tell you, as a former teacher: the resources that we need, as teachers—as professionals who can diagnose students' learning abilities and needs—are so often not available. Currently, as to the disadvantage of teachers who are teaching in remote settings and teachers who are teaching young Aboriginal kids or children from a background where the English is not their first language, Gonski proved once and for all that those children need particular additional resources—and teachers know it. There are great teachers out there already doing the very best that they can with the resources that they have, but, for many teachers, it is an insult to go to schools day after day and not have what they need. (Time expired)