Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) acknowledges that the $210 million funding cut to South Australian schools and $68 million in Tasmanian schools, in 2018 and 2019, means that schools will face significant cuts; and

(b) calls on the Australian Government to immediately reinstate the funding previously committed to South Australian and Tasmanian schools.

This is a very important motion. Tasmanian families have the right to know where the Turnbull government stands on education, because from what we've seen the Liberals cannot be trusted on schools. Instead of doing dirty secret deals to cut school funding, Prime Minister Turnbull should tell parents and teachers the truth. Does he care about the best quality education for all Australian children? This motion gives him the opportunity to demonstrate that either he cares about students or he has priorities other than the best possible start for our next generation. Government is about priorities and, if the Liberals vote no on this motion, it is clear that their priorities are not with the parents, the teachers or the children of Australia. If the Liberals vote no on this motion, it demonstrates loud and clear to the people of Tasmania that they don't care. To be frank, I think if they cared they wouldn't be cutting $68 million from Tasmanian schools over the 2018 and 2019 school years—$68 million!

The Turnbull government has cut millions from our schools, and the Tasmanian Liberals have sat by and done nothing. That is $12 million cut from schools in Lyons: $12 million cut from schools such as the Sheffield District High School, the Deloraine High School and the Campbell Town District High School. It is $12 million cut from schools like Beaconsfield Primary School, St Helens District High School and Brighton Primary School, amongst others.

The Turnbull government has cut millions from our schools and again the Tasmanian Liberals have sat by and done nothing. It represents $12.2 million worth of cuts to schools in Franklin. That is $12.2 million taken from teaching and learning in schools such as Rosny College, Rokeby Primary School and Kingston High School. It is $12.2 million in cuts to schools such as Dover District School, Howrah Primary School and Margate Primary School, amongst many others.

The Turnbull government has cut millions from our schools, and again the Tasmanian Liberals have sat by and done nothing. In Denison, the Liberals are cutting $14.4 million from schools like Austins Ferry Primary School, Cosgrove High School and Claremont College. It is $14.4 million that teachers will not have for their students' learning at Glenorchy Primary School, Newtown Boys High School, Ogilvie High School for girls and Lenah Valley Primary School, amongst many others.

The Turnbull government has cut millions from our schools, and the Tasmanian Liberals have sat by and done nothing. It will be $14.7 million from schools in Braddon. That is $14.7 million from schools like Burnie High School, Boat Harbour Primary School and Smithton High School. It is $14.7 million from some of our most remote students at the King Island District High School, Mountain Heights School and Redpa Primary School, amongst others.

The Turnbull government has cut millions from our schools, and the Tasmanian Liberals have sat by and done nothing. And it will be $14.7 million cut from schools in Bass. That is $14.7 million cut from teaching and learning at schools like Youngtown Primary, Launceston College and Port Dalrymple School. It is $14 million of cuts to schools such as Queechy High School, Scottsdale Primary School and the Bridport Primary School, amongst others.

The Turnbull government has cut millions from our schools and the Tasmanian Liberals have sat by and done nothing across the state of Tasmania. Funding for students with disability will go from $18 million last year to $9.7 million this year. That's a cut of $8.3 million. The cut will hurt our most disadvantaged and vulnerable students—a cut of basically 50 per cent in one year. Whatever did Tasmanian students with a disability do to deserve such cruelty? Whatever did the parents and the loved ones of those students do? It is a typical decision of a Liberal Party that does not care about Tasmanian students, that does not care about Tasmanian families. They just care about cuts, cuts and more cuts.

Prime Minister Turnbull and the Liberals have no vision for students, no compassion for the tireless efforts of our teachers, our teacher aids, our school support workers and our attendants, and no respect for parents. Quite simply, you cannot trust the Liberals with schools, just like you can't trust the Liberals with health, you can't trust the Liberals with biosecurity and you can't trust the Liberals with energy.

A vote for Labor on 3 March is a vote for a majority government that will put people first. Take our education policy. We want to make Tasmania the education state. The policy covers four key areas for success: one, restoring teacher numbers; two, building our education base; three, embedding a culture of lifelong learning; and, four, making education fairer. Working with the Shorten Labor government here in Canberra, a White Labor government will ensure that Tasmania has its fair share of education funding after the cuts by Malcolm Turnbull and his big brother, Mr Tony Abbott.

Across Tasmania, Labor will get teachers into classrooms to not only repair the damage done by the Liberals but exceed that. We're going to restore the damage and do more so that all our children get the best start. A Rebecca White Labor government will put 201 full-time-equivalent teachers into our schools. This comprises 89 new teachers, 40 early learning teachers, 50 teachers back into school communities and 22 early childhood intervention service teachers. A Rebecca White Labor government will invest in an additional 30 full-time-equivalent support staff like school psychologists, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists and school social workers. This will ensure that the services students need for achieving their best are wrapped around them in a school environment. And Labor will hire 30 full-time-equivalent teacher assistants and administration staff to reduce the pressure on our teachers. It's not just about teacher numbers but how teachers are actually supported at work. That's what makes a difference to our children's education.

Teachers' claims for workers compensation related to stress increased by 60 per cent between 2015-16 and 2016-17. This is not only having an unacceptable impact on staff but is costing the budget around $2 million a year. Labor will establish a working group to improve health and safety outcomes in our schools. It's also about investing in school upgrades and new schools where appropriate. A majority Rebecca White Labor government will also commit $40 million to build a new co-ed public high school in Hobart, $20 million for a new kinder to grade 12 school in Penguin and $22 million for a new kinder to grade 12 school in Sorell. In comparison, the Liberals are at their deceitful best. They have tried to make their funding promise sound better than it is by including money that wouldn't be spent until after 2022—after the next state election. What sort of ridiculous trickery is that?

It's the same time frame as their deceitful promises on a health system that, until last week, the health minister refused to concede was in crisis. Before the last election, the Liberals promised to protect frontline staff—and then, after they were elected, cut two teachers from almost every school in Tasmania.

Labor's election commitment is fully funded over the budget cycle. The Liberals are lost at sea with a policy that doesn't do enough over the next four years. I urge the Senate to pass this motion to support Labor's calls for the Australian government to immediately reinstate the funding previously committed to our schools—because we know that the Tasmanian Liberals won't stand up and fight for our students.